Uminari City Police: Daily Activity Logs
by deathcurse
Summary: The daily exploits of Officers F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi while they tackle criminals, jaywalkers and everything in-between. Explosions, crazy families and gunfights all with a touch of UST? Equals a normal day at work... Cowritten with RadiantBeam.
1. Jan 1, White Devil

LOG #1

**Daily Activity Log of Officers F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi**

**UCPD Log:** 1-1-20XX

**Officers:**_F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi_

_White Devil_

It was a nice day in Uminari City. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and even the sludge in the bay sparkled a nice green in the sunlight. And in the midst of all this niceness, a sudden flurry of gunshots sang into the air.

"You know what people call me?" The brunette cocked her gun, smirking down at the huddled thug on the warehouse floor. "The White Devil, bitch!"

With a sigh, a slim blonde rounded a corner, hauling the thug's partner by the back of the neck, and tossed him into the patrol car before going over to the brunette. Without any hesitation, she plucked the gun from the girl's grasp. "Hey!" she yelped.

"Bad Nanoha. What did I tell you about terrorizing the thugs when they've only robbed banks?"

"... Don't kill them?"

The blonde facepalmed.

"I was just having some _fun_, Fate-chan!" Nanoha whined.

Fate raised an eyebrow and turned to look down at Nanoha's victim. The bald thug cringed, shuffling closer to Fate and cowered at her feet.

"MP5-Ns," Fate noted, indicating the submachine gun she had confiscated from the other thug. Nanoha's eyes lit up and she just about draped herself over Fate's arm, panting eagerly but Fate held it out of reach. "They were specifically designed for U.S. Navy use—sound suppressors, retractable stocks…highly illegal and hard to get. Who paid for these?"

The questioning made the thug puff out his chest and sneer with renewed confidence, "I don't know what shit you're—"

Fate silently turned and handed the MP5-N to Nanoha, who cackled with delight, bringing the gun up to her shoulder and expertly rotating the selector lever until the safety was off—then looked down at the thug with a wide smile.

The thug scuttled behind Fate again, white with terror. "AHH!! Come on, you know who, I bet you cops already have the kingpin's name!"

Fate sighed. "Well, see, this works one of two ways. Either you come along quietly, which is option A, or you put up a fight and Nanoha here gets to have some fun, which is option B."

Nanoha grinned. "Choose option B."

"JAIL!"

Nanoha tapped the trigger guard of her gun. "Is that a request?"

"That's his name!" The thug trembled. "Please don't kill me!"

Fate cuffed him and tossed him into the backseat of their patrol car beside his partner and slammed the door shut. Leaning against the car, she scowled. "That bastard again."

Flicking the selector lever to _safety _again, Nanoha collapsed the stock and stowed the gun in the trunk. "Let it go, Fate-chan. You know that street cops like us won't be the ones to bring Jail down." She opened the passenger side door and got in.

Fate's dark expression didn't change, but she got into the car and tapped the steering wheel. "I don't care. I hate him."

Lacing her fingers behind her head, Nanoha said patiently, "Yes, I know."

Fate sighed and started the car. Smiling slightly, Fate remarked, "You know, I'm surprised that you didn't let loose with a few shots back there."

Nanoha shrugged.

"Oh, come on. This isn't like you and you know it."

"... You seemed annoyed," Nanoha said at last. "I won't deny I'm trigger-happy, but I know when to lower my gun."

"Huh," Fate grunted, fiddling with the police radio when static interrupted them.

"Besides," Nanoha grinned, all her previous seriousness gone, "That gun was evidence, and there's extra paperwork in it for me if I messed with your evidence again."

The blonde laughed, remembering that particular threat.

"Hey," Nanoha beamed as she checked the record of calls sent through dispatch while they had been occupied, "there's another robbery happening on 32nd and Yale…" Her voice trailed off suggestively.

"No," Fate shot down. "We have to drop off and process our two robbers in the back."

"Fate-chan," pouted Nanoha, crossing her arms. "You're a boring stick-in-the-mud!"

"Yeah," Fate said, unoffended. "But you agreed to this partnership too—so suck it up and start calling in to the station."

END LOG 1-1-20XX

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**Author's Note: RadiantBeam is awesome to co-write with. That is all.**

**Well, and that the Uminari City Police is full of crazy people. But that will be coming soon ^^.**

**Special thanks to all the great people on Animesuki for being so enthusiastic about this project!**


	2. Jan 2, Deli

LOG #2

**Daily Activity Log of Officers F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi**

**UCPD Log:** 1-2-20XX

**Officers: **_F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi_

_Deli_

"Your mother called."

Already taking a sip of black coffee, Nanoha choked and doubled over the table, coughing and attracting curious glances from all of the patrons currently residing in the small side-deli. From the counter, Shamal Yagami looked over, concerned, but then shook her head amusedly and went back to restocking the shelves. Sighing, Fate picked up a napkin and passed it to Nanoha. "Dammit, Fate-chan," the brunette wheezed out. "How many times have I told you not to touch my cell phone?"

"Sorry. It was going off and you were in the bathroom."

Nanoha growled, but she settled. "What did she say?"

"She wants to know if you'll be coming home over the weekend. For the anniversary, she said."

The brunette's shoulders stiffened before she took another gulp of coffee. "Of course I'll come home. I always come home for that. Why does she think I'd stop now?"

Fate shrugged, clearly deciding to withhold her well-used and familiar explanation to that question. Yeah, Nanoha thought sullenly, taking a bitter gulp of her coffee, they've known each other far too long.

So she chose to ask instead, "So what are _you _going to do for the weekend while I'm gone?"

"Collect the remnants of my sanity," Fate retorted. "I need to do that every few weeks or so."

Nanoha twitched her eyebrows and smirked. "Right. I bet you'll miss me."

"Like a hole to the head," Fate muttered, and she sighed. "Besides that, I'm worried about Mom."

Nanoha lifted a brow. "Something come up?"

Fate hesitated, then sighed again. "Mother's been harassing her lately. Mom usually handles it well enough on her own without me or Chrono, but since she's been sick she can't go it alone. I talked to Onii-chan, and I'll be heading home this weekend to help her out until he gets back into town with Amy and the kids."

"Do you need a hand with that?"

"The only hand you'll give me is a gunhand," Fate ribbed, but Nanoha could tell that her heart wasn't in it. "No, I'll deal with it. It's my problem in the first place."

"Oh, come on. I promise she won't feel any pain..."

Fate's glare made Nanoha shut up, and the brunette sighed. "Mou, Fate-chan, you're no _fun_," she muttered.

"You and I have different definitions of fun..."

"I bet the idea of giving Bitch-lady a few rounds sounds fun to you too, but you just won't admit it."

"Yeah, keep dreaming," Fate answered, and checked her watch. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

"Fate, we have twenty minutes before we're back on duty. The station is a two minute walk from here."

"Still, the Chief will have my head if we're late again."

Nanoha shrugged and took another long sip from her cup. "Jeez, if you're so worried about it, I can always drive us there."

"Hell no. The last time you took the wheel, Yuuno was a babbling mess. I won't make the same mistake."

"Hey! Yuuno-kun says my driving is excellent!"

Secretly, Fate suspected Nanoha had threatened him or flirted with him to get him to say that; one of the two.

"Besides, your licence is still suspended."

Nanoha glared at her, pouting. "Do you always have to bring that up?"

Fate was about to answer that, and throw in a few other comments about Nanoha's general offenses when the deli doors slamming open cut her off.

While everyone else in the deli nearly jumped ten feet in the air, the two cops barely even stirred; Nanoha continued to drink her coffee while Fate casually glanced aside.

Despite the loud entrance, the two men seemed innocent looking enough, minus the long coats and sunglasses they both wore. With an aura of confidence, they strode into the place like they owned it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Fate saw two children, a red-haired boy and a pink-haired girl, hastily get up and quietly exit through the back door.

"Nanoha?" Fate muttered. "How much are you packing?"

"Enough," Nanoha replied quietly, a wicked grin twitching at the corner of her mouth.

Fate sighed, keeping her eyes on the suspicious pair and noting the light outlines of rifle handles showing through their coats. "When you say enough, do you mean 'enough' as in you can take the guys down or 'enough' as in you can blow up the whole building?"

Nanoha just smirked.

Sometimes, Fate decided, you have to let things go. "You notice _that?_" She couldn't tell which gun models they had, but from size alone it wasn't looking good.

"Yep." Nanoha snuck a calm glance at the men as they took a booth by the window, so they could see the entrance clearly. One of them swept back his long coat and seemed to relax, pushing his sunglasses further up his nose. "Can I shoot first?"

"No!"

"They're packing really heavy too!" Nanoha didn't have to look twice to say with confidence, "An AK-47 each—that could cause nasty wounds in an enclosed space like this. Pre-emptive strike would be best!"

"We're cops!" Fate hissed, resisting the urge to smack herself in exasperation. They didn't need to attract any attention to themselves. "We can't shoot them until they start something."

"God," Nanoha complained, crossing her arms. "You're so…so _Canadian._ Sometimes you have to channel Bush, you know?"

Fate blinked. "Er..."

"What?"

"Nanoha, you need to think of better insults..."

"HEY!"

As the two bickered, one of the men stood up and casually made his way over to the counter. Shamal glanced once at Nanoha and Fate, then looked back at the man, her expression torn between anger and grudging surrender to prevent collateral damage.

Nanoha blew her bangs out of her face and propped her chin on her fist. "Great, now he's going to try and say something witty while his buddy shoots into the air and they start making demands."

A gunshot cut through the chatter, turning the conversation into screams, then dead silence. "NO ONE MOVE!"

"You lost," Fate taunted. "They started the threats first."

"Can I shoot now?" Nanoha whined.

"No!"

"But they started shooting first..."

"I said _no_!"

With a snarl, the man whipped his gun around and aimed it at the two women; a bad call on his part, though he had no way of knowing they were cops with their casual clothing. "Oi! You two! Keep it down, or do you both want bullets in your brains?!"

Fate raised a brow. "Just for money from a deli? Jeez, I swear criminals are lowering their standards every day..."

"Can I shoot _now_?" Nanoha pleaded. "He threatened us!"

"SHUT UP!" The man shifted his aim, and Fate's brain desperately judged a direction to try and dodge in that split instant when his finger tightened on the trigger—and she ran out of time.

BLAM!

A high-pitched scream filled the air as a loud thump made the floor shake. Clutching his leg and shouting, the man writhed on the ground, whimpering.

Nanoha stood, her chair squeaking backwards. Her gun smoked by her hip; she hadn't even raised it to aim properly. "Wrong move, asshole," she growled.

Fate gulped. Hard. "N-Nanoha?" She didn't like that look in her partner's eyes; the usual fun and teasing glint was gone, replaced with a hard, cold gaze that barely matched the brunette's personality.

"Stay here, Fate-chan. I can handle this on my own."

The other man leapt out of the booth, rolling behind a table for cover. He propped his gun on his knee as he yelled and aimed. Nanoha didn't waste the bullets shooting from where she was—she dove to the ground and rolled sideways, firing as she went.

Half of the customers were screaming worse than before, while the regulars tried to assure them not to worry, recognizing Nanoha and Fate. Fate flipped the first man over and cuffed his hands behind his back, yanking her napkin from her seat and binding his leg wound.

She heard another scream, then the sound of glass breaking. Fate looked up, and saw the second robber lying in the ruins of a table, Nanoha's gun pressed to his forehead while her partner had a second gun against his crotch.

Nanoha was whispering something to him, low enough that no one else could hear but Fate read her lips. _Trust me, I'll do either. What were you after?_

Fate missed his answer when the sound of police sirens blaring down the street distracted her. Nanoha pistol-whipped the robber and cuffed him roughly, dragging him over to drop unceremoniously beside his partner.

The deli doors slammed open once again and two uniformed officers burst in. "Everyone get down!"

"Hayate!" Fate called, waving. "Yuuno! Suspects neutralized."

Fate sighed, stepping aside and letting her friends process the criminals while she made her way over to Nanoha, who had sat back down at their table and was finishing her sandwich. Sitting down, Fate eyed her partner. "Nanoha?" The brunette still looked dangerously on edge even with her mouth full, an empty glower in her slate-blue eyes.

Fate fiddled with her coffee cup before deciding to shift the conversation. "What did he say? About what they were after?"

Nanoha swallowed and wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Kids."

"Kids?" Fate pondered that. Hayate came over then, clapping Fate on the shoulder, her blue eyes merry.

"Thanks for taking care of things, although Shamal asks, was it really necessary to break her table?" Hayate joked. "Now Shamal's going to get me to patch up all the bullet holes in the walls for her."

"_I _didn't break it," Nanoha cracked a small smile, although she still looked dangerously on edge. "The back of Stupid-Thug-Number-two's head did. Where's Yuuno-kun?"

"Doing the cop thing," Hayate said cheerfully, basking in her idleness. Her partner was collecting statements from the other customers, his gentle voice reassuring in its quality and bringing order to the panic around them. Yuuno was good at that, while Hayate hid her competence under a ditzy exterior. Kind of like Nanoha, Fate mused, casting another glance at the abnormally serious Nanoha.

"Hey Fate-chan, Nanoha-chan," Hayate grinned. "You two know that you're late for work, right?"

At that, Fate paled. Nanoha groaned.

"Dammit, Hayate-chan, why did you have to tell her that?"

END LOG 1-2-20XX

* * *

_**Author's Note: Just a point of interest, the Log #s indicate the order that the Logs were written, which starts to change order later on. We wrote them by jumping dates on Animesuki, so if anything doesn't make sense, let me know and we'll correct it! Most of it should be pretty consistent, but we may have introduced a character later on and forgot to give enough details earlier, that kind of thing =P. **_

_**(Of course, if you want to read it in the order that it was written, and have fun puzzling backwards the moments foreshadowed, you can read them by the Log #s on Animesuki for kicks ^^) **_

_**Another thing…RadiantBeam lives in the U.S., while I live in Canada. That should explain the bad joke! ^^**_


	3. Jan 3, Jumper

LOG #4

**Daily Activity Log of Officers F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi**

**UCPD Log:** Jan-3-20XX

**Officers:**_F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi_

"**Unit LS-1, this is Dispatch."**

Nanoha set down the pieces of her disassembled gun and picked up the mic. "Dispatch, this is Unit LS-1."

**"Unit LS-1, there is a jumper on the Port Bridge, adolescent female, caution, subject is armed."**

Fate turned on the sirens and lights, making a U-turn in the stopped intersection as she headed towards the bridge. "Nanoha, you talk with the girl while I deal with traffic."

"Can you deal with the girl?" Nanoha begged as she rapidly reassembled her firearm and reached under her seat for their Kevlar vests.

"You took more Negotiation courses than I did." Shaking her head, Fate lamented, "Irony is very present in the world."

"So is that a yes?"

"..." Fate groaned. "Fine, you take care of traffic, but when backup comes you're coming up too. Just please, promise me you won't push her off."

"Like I would do that!"

"Yes you would!" If she hadn't been speeding down the road, Fate would have smacked her head into the steering wheel a few times. "Don't shoot her either!"

"She's armed," Nanoha pointed out. "And that's a busy bridge. It may come to that."

"Don't let it go to that. I mean it!"

There was a long pause.

"...What if she shoots first?" Nanoha asked hopefully.

Fate had to resist the overpowering urge to smack her head against the steering wheel. "Fine! If she shoots first, you can return the favor! Just don't kill her!"

"But what if—"

"No buts!"

Inching onto the packed bridge, Fate glanced up. "Geez!" She pulled over underneath the figure perched on the high beams of the bridge and cut the siren but left the lights on. "Police tape is in the trunk. And even if people are being stubborn—"

"—don't pull out your gun," Nanoha finished for her, rolling her eyes. "Sheesh, you act like I'm a total maniac!"

That was absolutely too easy of an opening—if Fate was in a nice mood, she'd let the under-the-belt retaliation go.

Unfortunately, she wasn't in a nice mood.

"Nanoha, you _are_ a maniac."

Nanoha grinned at her. "Love you too, honey," she said before darting over to begin diverting traffic. Rolling her eyes, Fate prepared to go up and talk.

She prayed that she wouldn't get shot going up the ladder. And it was a _long _way up. Teasing aside, she knew that Nanoha was keeping an eye on them, which made Fate feel oddly secure. Well, if you had the biggest bully in the playground on your side, you'd feel pretty good too. Even if you were supposed to be the good guy.

Then again...despite her personality, Nanoha was definitely a good guy. At least, Fate _thought_ she was.

_Better question would be, am _I _a good guy?_

"Hi there," Fate called out, and the girl whirled in surprise, then stiffened in anger.

"Stay away from me!"

"Okay," Fate agreed, lowering herself to sit on one of the beams. She rubbed her hands against her thighs, her skin cold from clinging onto the metal ladder rungs. "I'm Officer Fate Testarossa. It's nice to meet you."

Automatically, the girl muttered, "It's nice to meet you," in response. That was a good sign.

Fate smiled slightly. Baffled, the girl frowned. "What?" she muttered. "I said hi."

"Don't you have a name?" Fate purposely kept her voice calm and gentle, not wanting to startle the girl or do anything to agitate her.

"Why do you want to know my name?"

"I'm just curious. You know mine, after all."

There was a pause before the girl spoke again. "Teana. Teana Lanster. All my friends call me Tea."

She was willing to talk. Another good sign.

"What school do you go to, Tea?" Hopefully, Teana wouldn't blow a gasket at the friendly usage of her nickname.

Teana opened her mouth to answer, then checked herself, a scowl reappearing on her face. "Look, just leave me alone. I know you're trying to stop me!" Her hand drifted to the gun tucked in her belt. Fate didn't move, but her whole body tensed in readiness.

"I'm not trying anything," Fate said patiently. "We're just talking, see?"

"Of course you're trying something!" Teana shouted. "Adults always do. You're all the same!" The orange-haired girl's hand closed over the gun's grip and trigger guard.

Okay, this wasn't going so well anymore.

Desperate to change the subject, Fate glanced down at the bridge and blinked as a tall, short-haired girl burst through the crowd despite the best attempts of the cops to keep her back, frantically calling Teana's name. "Friend of yours?" she asked lightly.

Teana glanced down; for just an instant, a warm, if annoyed expression flitted across her face. "Subaru," she murmured. "Idiot. I told her to go to school today and act like nothing was wrong."

"It doesn't look like she listened to you," Fate noted blandly.

"She always makes things worse." Teana hit one of the beams in agitation. "I told her that nothing would ever change my parents' minds, but she's so stupid. She keeps thinking that things always turn out okay, when they don't."

Out of the corner of her eye, Fate noticed Nanoha scaling the ladder silently, channelling her inner ninja. Man, this situation was either going to get better or worse in a hurry.

"Sounds like she's more than just a friend." Fate took a chance; perhaps she was wrong, but if this Subaru girl was important to Teana, then perhaps...

Teana hesitated a moment before she responded. "She's my girlfriend. We've been best friends for years... only just started going out now."

"I see." Fate smiled slightly. "Well, congratulations."

"Yeah, well, that makes it worse." Sulking, Teana turned to glare out at the river beneath them. "I keep trying to break it off, but she's so damned persistent and just can't take no for an answer."

"Is she harassing you?"

"No!" Teana shook her head, clearly angry that Fate wasn't getting her obscure point. "I'm not good for her, but she's too stupid to get that!"

Fate glanced down at the other girl again and sighed. "She's probably going to need years of therapy to get over this... if she ever does."

Teana hesitated.

So did Nanoha, still unseen by Teana below them.

Finally, Teana sighed. "She won't need anything like that," she murmured.

"Oh?" Fate was curious, despite herself.

"Yeah. She'll get over me easily enough. Maybe one day she'll even think I did the right thing."

At that, Nanoha started climbing again.

"Subaru seems like a kind person."

"She is, even though she's an idiot."

Fate scratched her ear, affecting confusion. "Then you think she's lying about how much she cares about you?"

"No." Teana shook her head, seeming to have completely forgotten about her original goal for the moment. "I know she's being honest."

"Then why?"

"Because. She's strong, and she has a good family supporting her. She'll forget about me in two years, three tops."

"Uh…" Fate wanted to facepalm herself, but that probably wasn't a good idea. "Tea, I don't think that you're being—"

"I know what you're going to say," Teana snapped. "Silly, stupid, putting myself down?"

"No, actually, I think you're giving Subaru too much credit..."

"You don't know her," Teana shook her head sullenly, dismissing the issue stubbornly. "You don't know what you're talking about, just leave me alone. I'm not bugging anyone, it's my life."

Fate blinked. "Well, uh..."

She never had a chance to finish her thought as Nanoha smoothly slid up behind Teana, flashed Fate a terse smile, and cleanly pushed the girl off the bridge.

"_NANOHA!"_

While Fate felt herself go berserk, and while Teana was screaming during her long fall, Nanoha had hooked a climbing rope to a make-shift harness of two belts buckled around her chest and shoulders and flung the rest of the rope coil to Fate.

"Oh sh—" Fate scrambled to loop the rope around one of the support beams and began to adjust her grip into a simple belaying stance when Nanoha swung into an upside-down grip on the bridge supports and kicked off, shooting downwards towards the falling teenager.

"You're fucking crazy!" Teana screamed.

"Right out of my mouth," Fate muttered as she watched Nanoha catch Teana around the waist. She quickly stopped the rope and threw her weight back, letting out a strangled yell of pain.

"Fate-chan?"

"I'm all right." Fate took several deep breaths. "I'm all right. It just startled me."

"Crazy," Teana whimpered. "All my luck, I had to be saved by the fucking crazy cop."

"Hey, I'm only slightly crazy," Nanoha muttered.

"YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY, NANOHA!" Fate slowly lowered the two of them down the last ten metres to the bridge surface, grimacing as the rope burns on her hands complained.

"Sorry." Nanoha's voice was easy to hear, her unrepentant tone making Fate steam with anger. "I can't stand people who talk like that."

Fate continued to fume. "Of all the—"

"People who talk like their death doesn't mean anything to the people they love." Nanoha gently wrestled the gun from Teana's grasp, not that she was resisting much to begin with. "I hate that."

The blonde didn't respond, and didn't have time to; Teana's Subaru had managed to somehow make her way through the crowd and now hovered uneasily on the edge, clearly wanting to go to her girlfriend but unsure of whether or not it was right.

"So how did it feel?" Nanoha asked Teana, her arms crossed. "Thinking that you were going to die."

Teana didn't answer, her gaze turned downward.

"So now you know." Waving Subaru over, Nanoha finished with, "Don't ever let me catching you doing something like this again, no matter what crap might be happening in your life."

Subaru was hugging her girlfriend and crying when Nanoha left them to walk over to the base of the ladder, watching Fate gingerly climb down. She helped her partner down the last few feet, taking one of Fate's hands and wincing at the red weals across her palms.

"Ah, I'm—"

BAM!

Nanoha didn't get a chance to finish; Fate socked her one across the face.

When Fate hit, she hit hard; Nanoha was thrown roughly to the ground and skidded a few feet before ultimately coming to a stop. With a loud groan, she rubbed her cheek. "—sorry," she finished weakly. "Yeah, I probably deserved that."

Fate glared at her. "What the hell did you take Negotiation classes for?"

"Um…they wouldn't let me take another fighting class elective?"

"Nanoha!"

"Oh, come on!" Nanoha tried to defend herself. "How long were you going to listen to her whine and cry, anyway?" She jerked a thumb at Teana, who was trying her best to calm a sobbing Subaru. "Do you really think she was _right_?!"

Fate grabbed Nanoha by the lapel of her jacket and Nanoha couldn't help it. She flinched and ducked her head.

Luckily, Hayate had grabbed Fate's arm. "Kids, you're in public. Please take the DV home, okay?"

Fate glared at Hayate. "This isn't—"

"She makes a good point," Yuuno cut in cautiously, coming up to his partner's side. "Why don't you two take this home? Fate, you need to get your hands tended to, anyway."

Clearly Fate wasn't convinced, but it was hard to be mean to Yuuno. Gingerly, Nanoha led both of them back to their patrol car, grimacing a few times to work the numbness out of her swollen cheek.

They went to Nanoha's apartment, of course; it was close to the station, and most of the time Fate practically lived there anyway.

And driving with injured hands wasn't fun at all. Thankfully, although Nanoha looked at her anxiously she didn't try something stupid like offer to drive. That would probably have set Fate off on another yelling rant about the incident that had resulted in Nanoha's licence being suspended for three months.

"I'll, uh, get the first aid kit," Nanoha said lamely when they were inside.

Fate just gave her a look. Properly cowed, the brunette left the living room to go fetch the first aid kit from the bathroom as Fate shrugged off her jacket, leaving it draped over the couch as she sat down.

"Looks like Mom refilled it while I was away," Nanoha said, still sounding lame, as she came into the room with the kit.

Fate didn't say anything. Gulping, Nanoha sat down on the table and started to apply antiseptic to Fate's hands. Slowly, the tension eased a little in the silence as Nanoha gently patched up her partner's hands and rolled a thin layer of gauze across her palms.

Finally, Nanoha spoke again. "I really _am_ sorry, Fate-chan," she said softly.

A soft sigh answered her. "Why do you always do something stupid then apologize for it later?" Fate rubbed her eyes, flinching when she put pressure on her torn fingers. "Even ignoring how cops should act—why can't you think a little before taking risks?"

Nanoha grabbed Fate's hands and lowered them from her face, keeping her wrists still as she cleaned the wounds and finished wrapping Fate's hands with bandages. "I already told you why. I hate it when people talk like their death won't have an effect on their loved ones."

"You're just so…" Fate scowled, but she just looked tired instead of furious. "Argh, I should just punch you again."

"What did I do now?" Nanoha asked, indignant but meek.

"Nothing, I just can't find the words to express how I feel about you at the moment."

"Sorry," Nanoha repeated softly.

"Stop apologizing."

"Why? I mean it, and you're still angry at me." Giving Fate's bandages one last testing tug, Nanoha released her hands and clicked the kit shut. "I don't know what else you want me to do other than kiss you to make it better, Fate-chan."

Violently, Fate grabbed Nanoha by the neck and crushed them together, kissing her hard. Time spun and warped until Fate broke their kiss just as abruptly and put her forehead on Nanoha's shoulder, breathing hard.

"You drive me nuts when you do your usual stuff," growled Fate, clutching onto Nanoha tightly. "But you should also fucking follow your own advice. I can't believe you did such a dangerous thing, jumping off the fucking bridge." Her white-gauzed hands twisted fistfuls of Nanoha's jacket, pulling her closer and preventing Nanoha from leaving, although that was the last thing Nanoha wanted to do. "What if I hadn't been strong enough to break your fall?"

"Er..." Nanoha swallowed hard, trying to clear her head and failing miserably as the haze refused to lift from her thoughts. "I didn't think about that."

"Idiot, yeah, you should have. I had to take the weight of you _and _Teana." Despite herself, Fate slumped heavily against her partner, half-asleep from weariness. "You're heavy."

"No I'm not." Nanoha shifted their weight until she had Fate in her arms.

"Yeah you are," Fate muttered drowsily. "It must be all those cakes."

"Are you implying I'm fat?" Nanoha asked, amused.

"Very fat." Fate chuckled. "Extremely fat. It's lucky I managed to hold onto you."

They sat like that for a moment in comfortable silence before Nanoha took a deep breath. "Fate-chan..."

"Hmm?" Fate was falling asleep.

"Should I not read too deeply into that kiss?"

No answer—Fate had fallen asleep, her breathing coming slow and even. Nanoha sighed, rising and hesitating before carrying Fate into her guest room, setting her friend down and pulling the comforter over her. She would have helped Fate change if she hadn't been so tired herself, just about ready to collapse.

There was an equal chance that Fate could have been faking, but Nanoha was sure that she wouldn't like the answer anyways.

END LOG 1-3-20XX

* * *

_**Author's Note: If anyone noticed (or cared =p), the Log # jumped (ooh, pun!) from #2 to #4, which was what I meant in the last author's note…**_

_**For those who might not know, "belaying" is a climbing term where one person handles the rope that's secured to the climber to prevent them from falling. Also, "DV" stands for "domestic violence".**_

_**And the subtext comes in…**_


	4. Jan 4, Momoko

Log #9

**Daily Activity Log of Officers F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi**

**UCPD Log**: Jan-4-20XX

**Officers:** _F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi_

_Momoko_

"It really is nice of you to stop by, Fate." With a soft chuckle, Momoko slid a cup of coffee across the kitchen counter before pouring herself a cup as well. She'd long ago accepted the fact that her children—even the ones who weren't hers by blood—would always worry about her, and as such had stopped scolding them about constantly checking on her.

"I have some time off before I have to go to the station, and Chief likes you." Murmuring her thanks, Fate grabbed the cup and took a sip.

Momoko pulled over another stool and sat beside Fate. "Speaking of which, where's Nanoha? She's usually with you."

"Chief made her help Signum with some paperwork as punishment for our latest case."

"Oh, my." Momoko laughed. "What did she do this time?"

"What _doesn't_ she do?"

Chuckling, Momoko stirred some sugar into her cup. "Did she threaten to throw someone into the car wash again?"

Fate twitched, although she tried to hide it, knowing that Momoko would notice. _No, she decided to push a jumper off a bridge and then take a swan dive after her. _She didn't want to worry the older woman needlessly, so Fate sighed exaggeratedly. "No, she just went against proper procedure just one time too many this month, and so the Chief got fed up and decided to teach her a lesson."

"Nanoha's always had her own way of doing things."

"Yes," Fate agreed, rolling her eyes. "Violent ways. But she's got good intentions underneath it all."

"She takes after Shiro in that regard." Momoko's smile was both affectionate and sad; even years after the fact, she still felt a small ache whenever she spoke of her husband. "He was very much the same way when we met. I don't think I ever managed to completely calm him down."

"Did you try?"

"I gave up before we even got married."

Somehow, that statement made Fate blush. Quickly, she gulped down her coffee, wincing as she nearly burned her tongue. "Well, some days I just want to strangle her, but then she does something so…_Nanoha _that I end up—" The memory of last night made Fate go red, until she felt even her ears burning. "—um, I end up sort of forgiving her."

Momoko chuckled. "Fate, honey, you don't have to dance around me. I know you and Nanoha have had sex."

Fate, who had lifted her cup to her lips, choked.

"WE HAVEN'T!" She nearly squealed, then blustered, "NO! We really haven't! Who told you that we did?!?" Fate wanted to just die; this was _not _something that she wanted as conversation topics with Momoko. Or with Lindy for that matter. Ever.

Just as Fate feared, Momoko was giving her an amused, clearly unbelieving look.

"We haven't!" Fate knew she was digging herself deeper, but the denial wouldn't stop coming. "I've never even _thought_ about Nanoha in that way, I swear, and I definitely haven't—"

"Fate, dear." Momoko held up a hand, chuckling. "I'm a grown woman. I was a wife, and I'm still very much a mother. I'm not going to judge you, or Nanoha, for having sex. Especially if it's with each other."

"But we really haven't!" Fate could feel herself about to self-implode.

Momoko looked at her for a while, then nodded. "I believe you." Fate had barely took in a breath of relief when Momoko commented with a knowing grin, "But you want to, right?"

Before Fate could explode with embarrassment, they heard a crunching sound of broken wood and the slam of the front door as it hit the wall with force.

_An intruder?!_

Fate's hand flew to her belt, and she tightly gripped the butt of her gun, not quite ready to pull it out. It seemed like a regular robbery, but if the suspect was armed...

She didn't even have time to think; all she knew for sure was that he was a man, clothed in black and quite huge, but fast for his size. In a heartbeat he was on her.

Fate blocked his punch and ducked in close, heaving an arm around his neck while throwing her weight to the side, using his momentum to flip him onto the ground. She tightened her choke hold, struggling to keep the larger man from dislodging her as he lashed about.

"FATE!" Momoko's warning cry came too late.

All of a sudden, Fate's world fractured into pieces, her perception floating away from her like ribbons in the wind. Somehow she was on the ground now, lying on her side and staring up at a second man brandishing a blood-smeared pipe. She had a gun—Fate knew that, but she couldn't process what she should do next.

The pipe rose into the air again.

Later on, when asked what Momoko had done, all Fate would ever say was that the woman had amazing aim and a killer throw.

Through blurry eyes, the blonde saw a lamp soar into her line of vision, cracking the thug sharply in the head. It wasn't enough to take him down completely, but it made him stagger, and it was all the opening Momoko needed.

She was a blur of movement, so fast that she put Signum to shame; her elbow rammed hard into the man's gut, her knee flew up and smashed right into his jewels, and with a whistling cry the man crumbled.

"Sorry." Momoko's voice was soft as she came over to Fate, gently patting the blonde down. Finding her handcuffs, the older woman plucked them up and quickly clicked them into place on the man's wrists.

"Other man?" Fate slurred out, feeling oddly disconnected with the world.

"Frying pan," Momoko answered, coming back over and putting her cold hands on Fate's head. Just the touch made Fate moan and cough wetly.

In an experienced manner, Momoko moved out of the way while still holding Fate's head as the blonde vomited onto the floor, shaking and seeing black blurs dancing in her vision. "Shh, it's alright," she soothed, carefully sliding Fate across the hardwood floor away from her mess.

"Sorry—"

"It's alright." Momoko pulled off her apron and folded it, putting it underneath Fate's head. She found a clean dish cloth and pressed it to the side of Fate's head, making Fate whimper and twitch in protest. "Hold that there while I call an ambulance, you're bleeding a lot."

"Call the police," Fate muttered, one hand lying limply against the rough bandage to hold it down, although gravity was probably doing a better job of it. Inanely, she stuttered, "I think…I have…a concussion."

"Shh. I will, honey, don't worry." Aching for the blonde, Momoko gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Don't move, you'll make yourself sick again."

Fate nodded dimly and lay still, listening to the sound of Momoko's voice as she pulled out her cell phone and made the call.

At least, that's what Fate thought she did…it looked like the floor was moving oddly, like waves that rippled across her entire field of vision. Fate closed her eyes, fighting the nausea, and slowly the sounds dribbled out until they all turned into background noise.

Someone—Momoko, she assumed—was shaking her, speaking, shouting. Fate tried to open her eyes, but it was too hard…she knew that she had to fight, but Fate had never beaten it before, in all the forms that it took.

She gave in to the darkness.

*** 

When Fate came to again, only briefly, she saw only gray and faint shapes. She went back under.

The second time she managed to stay awake long enough to make sense of what she was seeing. She was in a hospital bed...

"Do you still remember your name, Fate-chan?" Nanoha grinned at her, seated beside the bed and leaning on the rail.

"_Fate-chan_," Fate replied dryly. Inside, she felt a bubble of warmth and contentment rise up when Nanoha squeezed her hand.

"Your mom's here too, she's just outside with Mom filling out your paperwork." Gently, Nanoha brushed Fate's bangs back, her fingers light on the bandage wrapped around the blonde's head. "Did you hear the funny story?"

"Huh?" Fate muttered drowsily, although she tugged at Nanoha's hand to show that she was listening.

"Apparently, Mom called the police to bring in the men and then called the hospital like you asked her to." Nanoha chuckled. "They took too long coming in, so she drove you here herself."

Fate blinked. "Really?" For some reason, she still had a hard time keeping her eyes open.

"Yeah. So everyone arrived to find an empty apartment and two quivering, crying guys on the floor. I have no idea what Mom said to them, but…" Nanoha whistled with appreciation and grinned. "I want to know, those guys were _terrified._"

A soft knock at the door got their attention, and Hayate smiled in at them. "Hey Fate-chan, I hope you're feeling better."

"Nuh," Fate disagreed, squinting at her. Even though the lights in the room were dimmed, her head still pounded.

"I'm sorry I can't stay, I have to process those guys," Hayate apologized. "Nanoha, your mom is one awesome lady—deadlier than a cop, faster than an ambulance!"

"I know she is," Nanoha said proudly.

"She and Lindy-san are having a great time out there comparing take-down strategies," Hayate sweatdropped, laughing nervously. "I don't think I've heard of more vicious things since that time we plotted to wax Yuuno's legs while he was sleeping."

Briefly, as Fate drifted off again, she thought Momoko was wrong in saying that Nanoha got a majority of her personality from Shiro. Between the two of them, it seemed evenly split in half.

"Do you think that Momoko-san would agree to come in and workshop Attacker Neutralization some day?"

END LOG 1-4-20XX

_**Author's Note: Poor Fate-chan…no one believes her =D. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! ^^**_


	5. Jan 5, Interrogation

Log #10

**UCPD Log:** Jan-5-20XX

**Officers:**_F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi_

_Interrogation_

"Testarossa," Sergeant Signum said disapprovingly, "You should go home."

"I'd like to be," Fate growled, her chair tilted back on two legs as she tried to find a comfortable position to stop her occasional headache pings. "But with that gang conflict in the west side, everyone got called out, and we can't leave the station empty. So I'd rather be here and have one more officer pair out _there _to help, than be at home twiddling my thumbs."

Signum sighed, then lowered her voice, the gesture silly because other than Nanoha—who was sitting as dispatch at the moment—no one else was in the station to overhear them. "You just came in so that Nanoha would have to stay here with you."

Whispering back, Fate raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather she be out there with her grenade launcher?"

Signum frowned slightly. "I'm here."

The mental image scared Fate. Very much so. "You're no better than her sometimes, and you know it!" the blonde hissed.

The older woman chuckled. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

At that moment, the door flew open and Grahem strode in; even the Chief of the force had come out for this one, and he was dragging a scruffy youth by his neck.

"Lemme go, I don't know nothing!" The boy complained. Grahem ignored him, escorting him firmly into an interrogation room and shutting the door.

"Damn, I wonder who's going to take this one," Signum groaned. "All the detectives are out today."

After a pause, Fate started laughing, flinching when it made her head pound but the irony was just too funny. "I just realized—with all the detectives out, the person with the most credentials for an interrogation right now is _Nanoha_."

Signum considered this, then smirked. "Does this mean I get to use her grenade launcher?"

At that moment, Grahem came out of the room, jerking a thumb at the door. "Testarossa, I want you and Takamachi covering this boy. He knows something and I'd go at him myself, but my phone is ringing off the hook and my paperwork is reaching the heavens."

Fate started to nod, but then thought better of it when her brain complained. "Yes, sir."

Signum grinned. "Yes, I get to do dispatch!" Triumphantly, she picked up her stack of urgent forms and handed them to the Chief. "Sir, these have to be done today, please take over for me while I take over Officer Takamachi's job."

Grahem coughed. "Well, Sergeant, I think that maybe I'll do dispatch for a bit instead…"

"No doing, sir, your phone is ringing," Signum said with a smirk.

Fate had the interesting image of seeing her Chief looking ready to cry before he went into his office. Triumphant, Signum all but shot out the door just as Nanoha came in.

Staring first at Signum then at Chief Grahem's closed door, Nanoha laughed awkwardly. "Okay…what was that?"

Fate snorted. "Office politics." She picked up the single sheet of hastily scribbled notes by the Chief. "Okay, the guy we have in there is called…Seiya. I'll run his name in our databanks to see what else comes up on him. Nanoha, you want to go sound him out?"

"Sure, I'll see what a preliminary questioning shakes from him," agreed Nanoha. "I'll play nice, see if that gets us somewhere."

"Does that mean I get to play bad cop this time?" Fate asked, wishing she'd taken Lindy's advice and swallowed a pair of Advil pills.

Nanoha smirked, raising a brow. "Fate-chan doesn't feel like playing nice today?"

"I have little men with jackhammers bashing at my skull. Do you really think I want to play nice today with that kind of feeling?"

A long pause, then Nanoha coughed awkwardly. "Sounds like a bad hangover."

"No, sounds like a playground full of snotty kids locked inside my skull," Fate glowered with an ominous pause. "During recess. You wanna trade heads for the role of bad cop?"

Laughing nervously, Nanoha raised her hands in surrender. "No, no, I'm good…good cop, yes." She picked up two paper cups of water and rose quickly. "I'll, um…be talking to our guy now."

Grunting in response, Fate typed the guy's name into her computer and hit enter.

"Well, well." If her head hadn't been throbbing, Fate would have let out a small whistle. "Fujimura Seiya. Booked on charges of armed robbery last month, but somehow you managed to get out of that, didn't you? Wonder why you need the money so badly."

Meanwhile, Nanoha balanced both cups in one hand as she opened to the door to the interrogation room. The boy started, sitting bolt upright in his chair. His expression turned suspicious but amused, smug.

The smug look then turned to surprise as Nanoha set the cup down in front of him. "What's that?"

"You're probably going to be in here for awhile. I thought you might be thirsty." Just a kid, Nanoha figured. Probably middle to late teens, judging by his build. "What's a guy like you doing out in the streets when this is going on?"

"Doing more good than you," the boy taunted. "You're just sitting safe here in this place while your buddies are out there getting shot at."

Nanoha chuckled slightly. "I'm not too worried. Unlike _your_ buddies, _my_ buddies know how to shoot." She paused. "And now that I think about it, I think Signum made off with my grenade launcher..."

"My b…my buddies can shoot!" Seiya said defensively. "We're the toughest gang in this city!"

From Nanoha's judgement, he sounded like he had repeated that statement many times, but he lacked the conviction that she usually heard in his type. Curious… "I'm sure you are," she said mildly. "But I'm wondering, do you believe that your buddies can live up to that statement?"

Oh, that got a reaction from him; a subtle shivering, an uneasy twitch around his eye that spoke volumes.

Seeing the look she was giving him, Seiya quickly composed himself. "They can!" he insisted. "My brother taught most of them myself, and he's no slouch with a gun!"

This got Nanoha's attention. It wasn't much, but it was certainly a start. "Your brother?"

Realizing he'd said too much just with that statement, Seiya hastily clamped his mouth shut.

"Would you like more water?" Nanoha inquired sweetly.

"Huh?" Seiya stared at her. "Um…sure."

Nanoha picked up his cup and said, "I'll be back in moment." She shut the interrogation room door behind her and went over to Fate.

Fate didn't even look up from her computer as Nanoha came over to her. "Any luck yet?" she asked.

"All he's said so far is that one of the kids is his brother." Jingling the change in her pocket, Nanoha went over to the vending machine, deciding a bottle would be better than constantly having to refill a cup. "Apparently taught them how to shoot, so he might be high up in the gang."

"That's it?"

"He clammed up after that."

"Okay." Fate pulled out the still hot print-outs from the laser-printer and passed them over to Nanoha. "I pulled up his name and family information—this Seiya guy doesn't have a record yet, but his brother has a rap list. Possession of firearms, drugs, assault charges…there's even a murder charge, but that got dropped in court." She scowled. "Pay-offs, I bet…it seems the brother, Taiki, is the gang leader of the Kinmoku."

Nanoha whistled. "From the Chief's quick notes, the Kinmokus were the ones who started shooting first."

"He seems really nervous," Fate commented. "If we can get him to spill to us the Kinmokus' weak points, weapons caches, then we might be able to stall the conflict. Do you think we can crack him?"

"Depends on how well you can play the bad cop," Nanoha smirked.

"I'll play it fine." Fate smirked back. "How well can _you_ play the good cop?"

"I'll bounce off of you."

Fate turned and started printing some photos. "I'll find the nastiest photos I can find of the conflict so far, see if I can shake him. Oh, can you print off a list of the Kinmoku's known hideouts and associates?"

"Already printing," Nanoha informed Fate from her desk. "Okay, he seems like the earnest type…wants to please his brother, look like a man, blah blah blah, but I think that he's a little scared or nervous of his gang. Like he doesn't really fit in well."

"Think he was forced into it?"

"Hard to say." Nanoha frowned thoughtfully. "He definitely doesn't want to be the rat, but he's squirming. He knows this is wrong."

"Okay, let's see how we do," Fate tucked all of their photos inside a folder and scribbled in large Sharpie letters _Kinmoku—file #3SL _on the front.

"What's that mean?" Nanoha asked.

"Nothing, it's just a prop to make him think we've got a shitload of other files on them," Fate told her.

Nanoha gave Fate a look that was both amused and impressed. "You want to try playing the bad cop more often, Fate-chan? You definitely have the brain for it."

***

The door slammed open, and Seiya, standing by the wall, jumped as Fate stormed in, followed by a contrite-looking Nanoha.

"This is Officer Testarossa," Nanoha said, indicating Fate as the blonde pulled out a chair with a shrill scrape of metal before pointing to it, her expression stony.

"Sit."

Seiya took one look at Fate, one look at Nanoha, and made perhaps the wisest choice of his young life; he sat.

"Here." Taking pity on the boy, Nanoha handed him the water.

"Thank you," he responded automatically She could tell from his face that he wanted to kick himself for the words, but she could admire the fact that his manners were well taught.

Nanoha took control of the second interrogation, working off of the minor rapport she had built with the boy from earlier. "What kind of gun do you use?"

Seiya eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm trying to judge how good of a shot you and your brother are," Nanoha replied, pulling out her own chair and sitting at ninety degrees to him, while Fate remained standing across the table from his seat. "Guns happen to be a hobby of mine."

"No way you can tell that by just what kind of gun I use," Seiya denied, although he looked intrigued.

Nanoha grinned. "Want to test me?"

Seiya hesitated, then shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he muttered. "I don't know what kind of guns we used."

Fate slammed her hand on the table, startling both Nanoha and Seiya. "Stop lying!" She barked. "Do you think we're idiots? We know who you are, and who your brother is!" Fate slapped a photo in front of Seiya, who was leaning back in his chair as far away from her as he could get. "Do you recognize this?"

"No—"

"Liar! This is a Browning 9 mm, unregistered. We seem to find many of them with your friends, don't we? And look at this—" Fate slammed another photo down, and Seiya blanched. "Yeah. That's the kind of damage Brownings can do to a person. So. Do you still want to lie to us?"

Seiya shook his head frantically, desperate to prove his innocence. "I swear I don't know anything about those! My brother never let me handle any of that stuff, he said I was still too young! This is the first time I've seen them!"

Fate looked ready to push him, but Nanoha tugged on her sleeve gently. "He's telling the truth," she murmured.

"How do you know?"

"Look at his eyes. I bet you anything he dove into this because his brother said to and never knew just how dangerous this all was."

The blonde seemed to contemplate this for a moment before she turned her gaze to Seiya, who shrank visibly in his chair.

Nanoha interjected again. "Seiya-kun, we believe you." Fate snorted, and Nanoha gave her a look before assuring the boy, "_we believe you._" She leaned her elbows on her knees, her body language relaxed as she looked at Seiya in the eyes. "Look, we're only trying to help. Right now, lots of people are dying out there, and I believe that you can help make that stop."

"I can't," he protested, biting his lip. "I don't know anything, I'm not an important guy."

"But your brother is, right?" Nanoha said. "He can make the fighting stop."

"I'm not going to betray my brother!"

"I'm not asking you to…I'm asking you if you can think of anything that your brother can do, anything that he knows or has, that can convince the Kinmokus to stop fighting." Giving him a little smile, Nanoha said, "I know that siblings take care of each other, and share important things with each other."

Seiya wavered, but his quick "No, I can't think of anything" came too quickly to ring true.

At Fate's glare, Seiya wilted slightly but held firm. Resting a calming hand on the blonde's arm, Nanoha smiled slightly at the boy. "You care about him a lot, huh?"

Slowly, Seiya nodded.

"He takes care of you, right? That's what older sibs do."

"Yeah," Seiya muttered. "He watches my back. Nobody messes with me, even though I'm a…" His jaw clenched.

"Even though you're a what?"

He swallowed, then whispered shamefully, "A wuss."

"I don't think that you're a wuss," Nanoha told him gently. "I think you're really brave, for standing by your brother's side even though you don't agree with what's happening."

"He's my brother…I have to." Seiya shook his head, his face turning serious, clamming up again.

"Do you know what's happening right now?" Fate asked, keeping her body language aggressive.

"What?" Seiya threw back.

"Have you ever been shot, Fujimura?"

The sudden change in direction confused the boy, but his answer was clear on his face. "No?" Fate said. She leaned in, putting a hand on the table. Even though she didn't slam it down this time, Seiya still flinched. "You know how in movies, people keep walking around after they get shot, or tough it out without a sound?" Her tone lowered even more. "You don't feel anything at first. Then the pain hits, and soon you don't have an arm or a leg anymore, you have a column of agony attached to you that you would do anything to get rid of. You think that doctors can always patch you up? Bullets to the chest like to bounce around your rib-cage like pinballs, tearing up organs on the way. Soon you're bleeding so much inside your skin the lake of blood outside of you is a joke. And the best doctor in the world can do nothing against it."

More and more, Seiya's face had gone pale until he was nearly chalk white, trembling in his seat. Fate let the silence hang, then said, "And that's what's happening out on the streets, between your friends and mine, and all the innocent children and people who get caught in the cross-fire. All because _you_ won't help us stop this."

Seiya shook his head frantically. "Look, I know what you're saying, but I swear I have no clue where my brother keeps that kind of stuff! He doesn't trust the newbies with weapons!"

"Not even you?" Fate pressed.

"_Especially_ me! Bro would get his throat slashed if he told me where the guns are kept, the other leaders would see that as a sign of favouritism!"

"Seiya-kun," Nanoha said urgently, "Please help us from keeping the fighting from getting out of control. It's obvious that you and your brother love each other, and that you're trying to protect each other—"

"You know what? I'm losing patience with you," Fate said in disgust, her expression calming. Deliberately, she undid her cuff buttons, slowly rolling her sleeves upward. Seiya's eyes bulged, shaking at the implied threats his imagination filled in for him.

"No!" Nanoha drew his attention back to her. "Look, I'm just trying to help you and your brother. He could die out there today, lots of people are dying…and you have to stay safe to help your brother out, right?"

"He's not listening, Takamachi," Fate commented as she continued to work at her sleeves idly.

At that, Seiya crumbled.

"I can't tell you." He sounded ready to cry. "I can't. If they know my bro was bragging about it out loud, they'll kill him. He wasn't supposed to say anything, but he was trying to impress this new girl. If I tell you where it is, they'll kill him. They'll know I heard it from him."

Fate held off then, waiting for Nanoha to take over the direction of the interrogation. While they didn't know who exactly, Fate knew that the police had undercover detectives in many of the street gangs, but while it might soothe Seiya's mind to know that they could possibly have the information "leak" from other sources, the risk was too high for their agents. False promises would also be too cruel.

"Seiya-kun," Nanoha said kindly, keeping his attention on her. "I know that it'll be dangerous for you and your brother. But right now, the police have weapons information on the six other gangs except for the Kinmokus. We're planning on storming the places all at once, so that all the factions will be hit at the same time. From the way that we're going to do it, none of the gangs will think that one of their own ratted on them." She took his hands in hers. "I can't promise you that you and your brother will be safe in the fallout—there might still be a risk. But right now, everyone is at risk with all the fighting in the streets. So many people are getting hurt, Seiya-kun. Please…do the right thing."

Seiya gripped his water bottle tightly for a moment before slowly closing his eyes. "Can I have a piece of paper?" he whispered. "My bro mentioned more than one place."

Fate pulled out one of the sheets from her folder, flipped it over to the blank side and slid it across the table to Nanoha, who passed it on to Seiya. A silver pen clicked, and Nanoha took it from Fate and gently handed it to the downcast boy.

Clearly fighting himself, Seiya grabbed the pen, muttering a quiet "Thanks" before scribbling briefly to make sure it had ink. Sighing, he wrote down several names and slid it across the table. "Those are all the places my bro mentioned."

Nanoha handed it to Fate, who gave Seiya a nod before leaving. Quickly cross-referencing it with the printed list of the Kinmokus' known hideouts and circling the addresses, Fate entered the dispatch room and passed the sheet over to Signum. "We got the information the Chief needed."

Signum nodded at her. "Thank god," she said, her expression entirely stoic. "We're really taking a beating out there."

"Casualties?" Fate gasped.

"None yet on our side," Signum told her. "But six officers in the hospital."

Fate continued to watch Signum's demeanour…she seemed more emotionless than normal. Fate hissed sharply, then whispered, "Hayate?"

Signum's jaw tightened slightly. "We can't locate her or Yuuno."

"I'll—"

Interrupting her tersely, Signum raised an eyebrow. "And do what, concussion-girl?" A corner of her lips did twitch upwards in amusement though.

Yeah, Fate groused internally, settling only for glaring at Signum in exasperation. It seems like the big stress-reliever for most of her friends was "Fate-teasing". A station-wide sport. "Right…do you want me to take over Dispatch?"

Gracefully rising, Signum nodded. "Please."

Fate sat down, then turned to say good luck to Signum and stared. "Signum, why do you need ten guns to go on a search mission?!"

Signum smirked. "Because half of them are for Nanoha."

Fate blinked. "...What?" she asked weakly.

"You don't honestly expect to go out on the streets with your concussion, do you? So the Chief decided to partner Takamachi up with me for this case, at least until you feel better."

Coming out of the interrogation room, Nanoha caught the end of that and winced. "Ah.... right... I knew I forgot to tell her something...."

Fate gaped, then closed her mouth, tense with jealousy (although she would never let Nanoha nor Signum know _that_!) but she just sighed. "Be careful, both of you…and find Hayate and Yuuno-kun safe."

She knew that she was supposed to be paying attention to the messages coming through the computer, the incoming calls and the radio transmissions, but Fate couldn't help pushing herself back in the rolly-chair, sliding along the pathway between the working cubicles to keep an eye on Nanoha and Signum loading Signum's car up with their weapons, both of their faces alight and animated as they traded commentary.

"We've got a shotgun too," Fate grumbled as she saw Nanoha pick up the one in Signum's glove compartment happily. The doors slammed and sirens filled the air as Signum's cruiser tore out of the parking lot with the squeal of burnt tires.

Fate intended to stay up and wait until Nanoha returned, to make sure that she would be in one piece and all, but her headache had come back with a vengence, and it was almost impossible to keep her eyes open. She wasn't even aware of starting to fall asleep; she just slumped back into her chair and was out in less than two seconds.

***

"Fate-chan!" A playful voice whispered in her ear. "Are you waiting for a kiss to wake up, or something?"

"Nanoha?" Fate muttered drowsily, her skull complaining against waking but obliging reluctantly to Fate's efforts to open her eyes.

"Do you want me to be?" Came the teasing voice again, and Fate sat bolt upright, her brain remembering.

"Hayate!" She sprang up and hugged her friend, staggering a bit due to the light-headedness from her sudden motion. "Okay, that wasn't the smartest thing to do…"

"I'll say." Laughing softly, Hayate hugged Fate back. "Easy, Fate-chan. Nanoha-chan will never forgive me if you collapse."

"Nanoha." Blinking, Fate stepped back, her head clearing as she suddenly remembered her missing partner. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

The brown-haired woman laughed. "Relax, she's with Yuuno and Signum right now. I swear, those two looked ready to take all the guns we found and run away together. It's terrifying when they're partnered up."

"I'm sure." Fate scowled, but quickly smoothed her expression over.

"Also, I think you might want to talk to the kid." Hayate sighed. "We saved a lot of lives today, but he's pretty torn up over betraying his brother."

"Hayate," Fate said guiltily, "is it bad of me to say that I have a full construction site's worth of noise in my head right now, and all I want to do is go home and sn—uh, sleep some more?" She sighed, putting her forehead on her fist. "I know…it wasn't fun to play him like that."

"I _am _glad you did though," Hayate said quietly, putting her hands on Fate's. "Yuuno and I were in…a lot of trouble."

"What—"

"Shh," admonished Hayate, patting Fate on the head. "Go speak to the poor guy, then go home and—" She smirked, and Fate cowered, knowing that Hayate had guessed what she had almost said… "—and snuggle with Nanoha, eh?"

"Just as friends! It's comforting! I bet you do it too!"

Hayate rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure, me and Yuuno? We just snuggle every chance we get, too. Heck, when we feel hot and horny we skip right over that and—"

"All right! All right! I'll talk to the kid, happy?!"

As Fate walked off, stumbling slightly like a drunk, she smothered a snicker when she heard Signum's voice rising, "_What?_ What exactly did you just say, Hayate?" accompanied by the tell-tale sound of a shotgun cocking and Yuuno's sputtering attempts to speak.

Closing the door behind her, Fate shook her head before sitting down in front of the boy. Seiya had his head bowed, staring at his hands, and her eyes softened slightly. "Hey." She touched his shoulder gently. "You did the right thing."

The kid released a shuddering breath. "Do you think he'll hate me?" he whispered hoarsely, struggling not to cry.

Fate couldn't lie to him. "I don't know."

Seiya nodded. Finally, he swallowed hard. "Was anybody killed?"

"No. Everyone made it out alive."

Hearing that, Seiya broke down and wept. Forgetting her headache, Fate drew the boy into her arms and held him as he cried.

***

Nanoha watched Hayate and Yuuno drive off in their unmarked cruiser with Seiya sitting downcast in the backseat. She hoped that nothing bad would happen to him…it seemed like too high of a price, to earn peace at the suffering of one boy. Sighing, Nanoha walked past the Chief's office, where Grahem was hurriedly putting together a press release, and past all the other officers wearily packing up and getting ready to trudge on home.

And speaking of trudging on home…Nanoha walked over to their desk, gently shaking the knocked out Fate's shoulder. "Fate-chan?"

Fate groaned, and opened a bloodshot eye. She looked pale and clammy, and Nanoha's stomach dropped out her chest at the thought of Fate making herself sick just for work.

...

Screw what Grahem and others would think, this was going too far. "You're sleeping at my place tonight," the brunette muttered.

"But—"

"No arguments. You're dead on your feet."

"Yes, yes, get her out of here," Signum said idly, then smirked at them. "I'm sure you'll see to her…_every_ need, Nanoha."

It was interesting, Nanoha noted dimly amidst her own rampant blushing…that a real person could turn such a shade of intense red as the one on Fate-chan's face.

END LOG 1-5-20XX

* * *

_**Author's Note: Have some Signum! =D**_

_**Sharp-eyed fans would notice the tongue-in-cheek reference to another anime…**_


	6. Jan 6, Stalker

LOG #11

**UCPD Log:** Jan-6-20XX

**Officers:**_F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi_

_Stalker_

Nanoha whistled as she walked down the street. See, she could walk to the police station in twenty minutes, or she could run there in ten. If she took a detour to Fate's apartment, she would pass _by _the station, walk an extra twenty minutes, then have to make that same time back.

All just to make sure that Fate was in bed, like she should be.

So…why was Nanoha unsurprised to see Fate locking her front door, fully dressed for work?

"What are you doing?"

Nanoha had to give Fate credit; the blonde didn't jump out of her skin at her partner's voice. Her voice was clipped and calm. "Getting ready for work."

"Fate-chan, today's our day off." Nanoha crossed her arms. "And moreover, you should be in bed."

Fate turned to raise an eyebrow at her partner. "Moreover?"

Ignoring that, Nanoha came up the steps, putting her arms around Fate, her palms against the door, trapping Fate between them. "Fate, I'm serious. It's our day off."

Fate reached up and tugged on Nanoha's tie. "Then why are _you _dressed for work?"

"Because unlike you, I'm actually on a mission." Nanoha flicked Fate gently on the forehead to get her to let go of her tie. "A very important mission that requires I be dressed properly."

Fate raised a brow. "Oh?"

"Yes," she said proudly.

Fate smirked, then grabbed Nanoha's side pony-tail, wrapping it around her wrist to hold her there. "What are you really up to?"

"Nothing important." Nanoha attempted to make an escape, only to yelp and sigh as Fate kept a tight hold on her side ponytail. "What do you want, Fate-chan?"

"The truth," Fate said sternly.

Nanoha withstood the glare, but then wilted. "Fine, only because your head is still dented and I don't want you hurt something glaring so hard." She sighed and pulled out her cell phone, clicking through her texts. "This was sent to me this morning, from my sister. I think that she meant to send it to my mom."

Fate took the phone and read aloud, "_Mom, I'll run to get the groceries later today, I'm out with someone right now?_" She looked up. "So?"

Nanoha stared at her. "She's _"with someone"_!"

Fate frowned. "So?"

"So? She's on a…a…" Nanoha struggled, her face horrified.

Fate started down her steps, chortling. "A date?"

"Don't say that!"

"But she is—"

A glare from Nanoha made Fate shut her mouth. "She isn't, okay?" the brunette muttered.

"Nanoha, isn't she already past thirty? I think she's old enough to make her own decisions about this kind of thing."

"But what if he's some…" Nanoha struggled for words, settling with waving her arms wildly and saying, "…some _guy?_"

Fate sighed and muttered under her breath, "So now I know why Miyuki's been single for so long."

Nanoha's eyes narrowed. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing." Fate shook her head. "Nanoha, is Momoko worried about this?"

"Well... no...."

"Then why exactly are _you _so worried?"

"You know what?" Nanoha scowled. "Come on, I'll prove it to you."

"What? Nanoha!" Fate watched Nanoha storm down the metal steps, wincing as the clattering made her head twinge.

Shaking her head, Fate chased after Nanoha. "Don't you think you're being nosy? I mean—"

"Oh come on, you spied on Chrono-kun and Amy-chan when they started dating!"

"I was _twelve_, that doesn't count!"

Nanoha started for the car, but then stopped short. "Oh yeah, _you're _not cleared to drive for another three days, huh?" She smirked. "I guess we're hoofing it then."

"You're not cleared to drive at all, so I wouldn't say anything," Fate scowled as she followed Nanoha out of her apartment complex and onto the street. "Look, this is—"

"Hayate-chan told me that they suspect those two guys who attacked you and Mom were after Mom because of me," Nanoha said grimly, her hands clenched. "So what if this guy is just trying to get at my sister?"

"Nanoha…in case you don't remember, Momoko was the one who took down those two guys. Do you really think that Miyuki can't handle one dude?"

"But—"

"_And_ she's the reigning champ in the dojo. None of her students have managed to beat her yet."

Nanoha sulked. "Let's check him out, at least. Just a sweep by, we won't go up to them."

"And what do you think Miyuki's going to do if she catches you spying on her?"

"I can take her!"

Fate snorted, amused. "No you can't."

"You're an awful partner," grumbled Nanoha. "No support from you at all."

"Look, Nanoha, no offense, but hand to hand combat isn't your speciality." Fate went quiet. "Which is kind of funny, considering how your family used to be big on swords."

"HEY!"

"Actually," Fate commented innocently as they entered the park, walking by a group of running kids. "I think that _I _can take you in arm's reach, how about that?"

"Not right now, you can't," Nanoha retorted. "You're under a 'no-stress' health rule."

"Being _with you_ is stressful," Fate fired back, but she clasped Nanoha's wrist briefly to take the sting out of it.

Nanoha didn't reply, but her lips twitched slightly.

"Anyway." Fate sighed and resigned herself to this. "Who's the guy?"

"New employee Mom hired to help with the store. She left Onee-chan to teach him the ropes, but somehow it went beyond that..."

"She actually _taught him the ropes_?"

Nanoha began to whap Fate over the back of the head but remembering her friend's infirmity, changed direction and smacked her in the stomach instead.

"Can we get back to the guy who's about to take advantage of my sister?"

"Right." Fate nodded, trying to keep a serious expression. "Continue."

"There they are!" Nanoha squealed, grabbing Fate's arm and tackling both of them into a bush.

"Nanoha!"

"Shhhhh!" The brunette pressed a finger to Fate's lips before peering through the bushes. "I don't want them to see me! Mom already scolded me for being too overprotective."

Fate groaned. Not for the first time, she agreed whole-heartedly with Momoko's opinion.

The two of them belly-crawled through the bushes until they were up behind a park bench. Fate could hear Miyuki say, "Really? You wanted to be a cop before?"

Curious despite herself, Fate tried her best to peer through the bushes, wanting to get a good look at this young man who had Nanoha's hackles up. He looked decent enough, she mused; perhaps just a little bit taller than Miyuki, with short brown hair. His voice was soft, but sounded sure and strong when he replied. "I did," he said sheepishly to Miyuki. "But see, my sister and my parents don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, so I thought it would be better if I stayed close by."

Fate couldn't help but wonder why he looked so vaguely familiar.

She turned to ask Nanoha but then widened her eyes, stifling a groan. Violently, she nudged Nanoha, disrupting the photo she was taking with her camera phone. _What are you doing? _ She mouthed.

Nanoha couldn't read lips like Fate could, but she got the message. _I'm sending his picture to Yuuno-kun to find out his stats._

Gritting her teeth, Fate gestured, _That's illegal! _but Nanoha had already gotten her shot and was emailing it to Yuuno with a short typed request underneath. Fate read over her shoulder and shook Nanoha's arm. _We _don't _think that he's doing anything shady!_

Meanwhile, the two on the bench continued chatting, oblivious. "I bumped from job to job for a bit, but then I walked by Midori-ya and…um, and thought, 'I would love to work there'…"

Nanoha rolled her eyes. _Oh please._

_He could be telling the truth,_ Fate pointed out, wanting to defend him somewhat.

Nanoha snorted softly.

On the bench, Miyuki chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing you decided to come in when you did. It took me years to convince Mom that we needed extra help. Back before, we used to split it between her, me, and my younger sister, but since Nanoha's become a member of the force it's just been me and Mom."

"Your sister doesn't help?"

"Are you kidding? Sometimes I think I'd have to pry her away from the counter with a crowbar. She's still extremely involved, it's just that Mom wants her to focus on her own life instead of always worrying about her." Miyuki sighed. "We all worry about Mom a lot."

"She's an amazing woman." The guy stood, offering his hand to Miyuki with a smile. "Come on, let me show you my favourite spot by the lake."

They walked off, oblivious to the furious tussle that sprang up inside the bush. Fate managed to pin Nanoha down, waiting until Miyuki and the guy were out of earshot before she hissed, "God, Nanoha, calm down!"

"Did you hear that?" sputtered Nanoha, her face pressed against the packed soil. "He's taking her to _his favourite spot._ How dare he take advantage of my sister with such cliched moves!"

"People can have favourite spots! It's not a cliche from a bad romance movie!"

"But he's a _guy_! And he's alone with my _sister_!"

Fate gave Nanoha a long look before she groaned. "Is Miyuki going to be this protective of you when you finally start seriously dating someone?"

Against the soil, Nanoha smirked. "She'd have to get in line behind Mom."

Somewhat without thinking, Fate muttered, "Your mom likes me." A second later when her brain caught up with her mouth, Fate sprang up off of Nanoha and out of the bush, terrifying two boys running by after their soccer ball. Quickly, she said, "Better than what _my_ future dating partner will have to go through…"

"Me?" Nanoha smirked, emerging from the bush with slightly more decorum. "I have a gun saved up special for that occasion."

Fate snorted, but her stupid heart made flippy-flops, ending with a flop at the end of Nanoha's comment. "Come on, we're going to lose them."

"I can guess where they're going," Nanoha murmured.

"Oh?"

The brunette smirked. "What's the most romantic location in town?"

Fate frowned, thinking. "The bridge?"

"Bingo."

".... This isn't the first time you've stalked them, is it." It was a statement, not a question.

"It's not stalking!"

Nanoha's cell phone buzzed. She scrolled through, and grinned. "Sweet, Yuuno-kun's good. Okay, this scoundrel is Tiida Lanster, currently unemployed, age 31. One charge of drunk driving, his last credit card bill was unpaid for the first time since two years ago, and he drives a blue Nissan."

"Hm, he sounds like an ordinary dude," Fate commented.

"Oh really?" Nanoha grinned, her eyes alight. "Lookee here, his last job was at AMF Industries."

"Shit." That was one of Jail's mostly legit businesses.

"I knew this guy was a suspicious character," Nanoha said smugly. She patted her police baton. "Can we go say _hi _now?"

"Hold on, hold on." Fate grabbed Nanoha by the collar of her uniform before she could race off. "It isn't solid proof, at least not enough to beat him up. Besides, even then I think Miyuki can handle him."

They crept towards the bridge, hiding behind trees and darting across open spaces to their next cover point. Soon Fate and Nanoah were close enough to hear Miyuki say, "…so that's what you find attractive in a girl?"

Cue another tackle and wrestling match in a bush. Even though Fate knew that she only won because Nanoha had froze before she could accidentally hit Fate in her concussed head, she still pined Nanoha down securely. "Don't jump to conclusions!"

"He's making moves on Onee-chan!"

"You don't _know_ that! It could be a friendly kind of thing! Yuuno and Hayate do it all the time!"

"Fate-chan, Yuuno-kun is a…a _safe _guy."

"He's _not _gay!"

"He doesn't have to be gay! He's so…you know!" Nanoha waved her arms. "Safe!"

"What does _safe_ mean?"

"You know..." Nanoha fished for the right word. "He's a gentleman! We've known him for years! I don't even know who this Tiida Lanster guy is, much less why he's so interested in Onee-chan!"

"Maybe because she's pretty?" Fate said dryly as she gingerly let Nanoha up. "And she's funny, and can kick ass just like the rest of her family? All very attractive traits."

Freezing in place, Nanoha turned to give Fate a weird look.

Fate rolled her eyes and glared, not even dignifying that with an answer. After a pause Nanoha laughed weakly and waved her hand in apology.

"Maybe he wants a promotion...."

Fate groaned.

"He's the only employee they have, Nanoha. He can't get promoted to anything." Peering over at the bridge, Fate noted, "Hey, they're leaving."

Nanoha looked out and fumed. "They're _holding hands!_"

"Friends can hold hands," Fate muttered.

Nanoha glared.

"What? If they're really good friends and trust each other, it can happen!"

"I bet you he just wants to get into her pants." Looking both horrified and indignant at the thought, Nanoha led the way down as they followed Miyuki and Tiida at a distance.

Exasperated, Fate said, "So if when you hold my hand, am I supposed to assume that you're trying to get into my pants?"

Nanoha smirked. "Fate-chan, I've been wanting to get into your pants since we were fifteen."

Fate choked on the very air she was inhaling, her face turning bright crimson as she stuttered and babbled incoherently. Ignoring her, Nanoha grabbed her hand and hauled her along, keeping a sharp eye on Tiida and Miyuki.

"Ice cream?" Nanoha huffed as they watched Tiida and Miyuki bicker playfully over who was going to pay. "That's so cheesy!"

"I thought you didn't want them together?" Fate said, finally deciding to pretend that their previous conversation had happened in some alternate universe and was now continuing with reality.

Nanoha's phone buzzed, and she pulled it out, flicking at the screen. "Oh, look what Yuuno-kun found—six unsolved crimes involving AMF Industries employees in the past year."

"Any of them linked to Lanster?"

"Well.... no...." Nanoha regrouped. "It's still suspicious though! Especially when you wonder why he quit!"

"He quit? He wasn't fired?"

"Yeah," Nanoha nodded, keeping an eye on the conversing pair while also scrolling through the file Yuuno had sent her. "He could have gotten into some trouble…being unemployed makes it easier to hide. Less files."

"True," Fate admitted. "But still, I think you're flinging as much mud as you can on this poor guy to see what will stick."

"I am not—" Nanoha gaped. "What on earth does he think he's doing!?!"

Curious despite herself, Fate glanced at the pair. "He looks like he's still just holding her hand."

"He was going to kiss her! I saw him start to lean in!"

"I think you're just seeing things," Fate disagreed as they both sat on a bench to throw off the funny looks some of the other park-goers had been casting their way. At some disapproving and suspicious glares, Nanoha glowered, pulled out her wallet and flashed her badge at them, causing people to look sheepish and edge away.

"He definitely leaned in," Nanoha muttered. "Or at least, he was thinking about it before he changed his mind." She watched Tiida like a hawk, clearly not liking what she saw.

"Why would he change his mind?"

"I don't know, maybe Onee-chan indicated she isn't interested."

"…you sound much too pleased at that." Fate observed Tiida again, watching his polite demeanour as he grinned and said something that made Miyuki laugh. "He seems like a nice guy, you know, if I went for that type."

"Oh? So you like the bad ones?" Nanoha said innocently, leering at Fate as she winked.

"I bet _you _like the bad ones," Fate challenged.

"Naw…" Nanoha smirked. "You know, you have a point, he's not that bad…I think that he is _my_ type."

"WHAT?" Fate squawked a little too loudly, and both of them quickly flipped over the backrest to hide in the bushes behind their bench when Miyuki and Tiida looked their way. Lying on her stomach, Fate hissed at Nanoha, "What?"

"My type," her partner licked her lips, grinning at Fate. "You know…all straight-laced and "nice guy", if a tad mysterious?"

"What?" Fate squeaked, starting to feel like a broken record.

"I think that's why Yuuno-kun and I just stayed friends in high school; he's just too much of a nice guy for me... not enough mystery."

"Nanoha, that man is Miyuki's age!"

"So? Onee-chan's only thirty-one. That's, what, an eight year age difference? Not so bad." Nanoha smirked. "Besides, older men are more mature."

Fate gritted her teeth, feeling the squeak of her enamel grinding. "He could be one of Jail's thugs!"

"Well, that would be a turn off." Nanoha sighed, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Obscenely, Fate couldn't help but notice that with more intensity than warranted. "But I thought you said that it was unlikely that he's connected with anything bad?"

"There's nothing wrong with being cautious," Fate bit off, knowing that Nanoha was teasing her but unable to find a way out of the hole she had dug for herself.

"I don't know, Onee-chan tends to have pretty reliable taste in men." Nanoha smirked. "Perhaps I should go over and ask her to introduce us."

"Maybe we should go over and tell him to grow a pair and kiss her already."

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha nearly choked on her laughter. "I've never heard you say that before! Weren't you the one who was saying a little while ago that they could just be really good friends? I might have a chance!"

Growling, Fate shot upright, bursting through the bush and brushing off leaves angrily as she strode towards where Miyuki and Tiida were sitting on the grass. She ignored Nanoha's low cries of her name as she determinedly approached the older pair.

The blonde didn't know exactly what it was she intended to do, but one thing she wanted to be sure of was that Nanoha had no chance with Tiida. Some small part of her was scolding her for thinking so selfishly, but largely she didn't care.

Miyuki saw her coming first, and seemed to do her best to swallow her laughter when she saw the look on the younger woman's face. "Fate-chan, hi. Where's Nanoha?"

"In a bush," Fate said curtly before turning to stare intently at Tiida.

Looking mildly unnerved, the man nodded at her. "Officer, good day."

While Miyuki tried her hardest not to burst into laughter (having been aware of the stalking but choosing to ignore it), Fate focused on the man. "Your name is Tiida Lanster, right?"

"Yes, ma'am." He frowned, slightly baffled.

"What are your intentions with Miyuki?"

"Er, uh, well... I'm new here and she was just showing me around, is all."

"Would you be interested in dating a woman eight years younger than you?"

Tiida looked at a snickering Miyuki. "Is this a trick question?" he asked weakly. When Miyuki shrugged, he said, "No, I wouldn't."

"Hm." Fate flipped her ticket book shut, causing Tiida to wipe his sweaty face in relief.

Miyuki snorted gamely and swallowed hard. "Are you done now, Officer? I do believe you're off duty for today."

"Even off duty, I still retain all of my rights as an officer," Fate said sternly, a bit terser than she should have been but Nanoha's teasing had rubbed her nerves raw. She scowled at Tiida, pitching her voice low. "If I find out that you intend to cause my fa…friends harm, I will find you and stick you upside-down into the harbour, understand?" Pointing at him, Fate growled, "Stay clean, or else. And don't _ever_ let me catch you looking at younger women!"

She stomped off, fuming at the sound of Miyuki laughing behind her, and Tiida's sputters of confusion. Fate reached into the bush and dragged Nanoha out, shaking her to get the twigs off. "We're leaving, _now._"

Faintly, Fate heard Tiida weakly ask Miyuki, "So... did I pass or what?"

END LOG 1-6-20XX


	7. Jan 7, Family

Log #13

**UCPD Log:** Jan-7-20XX

**Officers:**_N. Takamachi_

_Family_

Stepping off the bus, Nanoha was struck with a sudden nostalgia, making her stop in her tracks, standing alone beside the bus stop in the misty morning. No matter how she had put it behind her, no matter how strong and independent she had become in her daily life, Nanoha knew that here, she was still a child.

Putting her cold hands into her pockets, Nanoha climbed the steps and walked through the cemetery gates.

Wondering if it would start snowing, Nanoha shoved her fists deeper in her pockets, keeping her head bowed against the wind until she reached the place she was headed, taking a moment to brush loose strands of hair out of her eyes.

The markers for Shiro and Kyouya were tall and strong. Nanoha wondered when she'd stopped viewing them as a symbol of loss and started seeing them as something just as precious as her father and brother alive.

There was a chip in the corner of her brother's stone, from Miyuki's sword when her sister had hit it in a crying rage, in those early months when they all struggled to pull through. Nanoha would have done the same, but she didn't have a sword, and shooting her father's tombstone with a .9 mm didn't seem appropriate even in angry grief. But she was over that angry phase now. Now, it wasn't hard to put her anger at their deaths to the proper targets.

"Good morning Otou-san, Onii-san," she said quietly, squishing herself into the gap between the two stones and kicking her legs out to lie on the grass. "It's been another year. Three years with Fate-chan, and I still haven't brought her to meet you guys, I'm sorry, after how much I talk about her to you. One of these days, I promise."

She had been making that promise every year.

"Mom and Onee-chan should be here soon; Mom went over to help Shamal out in the deli. She's been getting swamped lately. Klarer Wind is becoming a popular place." Nanoha chuckled softly. "Onee-chan should be closing down the store soon..."

Absently, Nanoha wondered if Miyuki had brought Tiida here yet.

Then she promptly gave herself a mental slap for the thought.

"Aunt Misato and Uncle Jeffrey are talking about moving closer. Mom feels kind of guilty, but they say it isn't because of her."

"Shinobu-san still hasn't written back to Onee-chan yet. I know she's been getting her letters, because I think she forgets sometimes that Suzuka-chan tells me so. But Suzuka-chan only knows that she's kind of okay, since Suzuka-chan isn't home much these days." Nanoha sighed and leaned her head back, watching the dark clouds drift overhead.

"I wish you guys could have met Fate-chan…she has more interest in swordwork than I do. You would have liked her, Otou-san."

She chuckled at herself, thinking that her brother would have teased her about how often Fate seemed to come up in her conversations with them. "I can't help it. I'm—"

"Nanoha-chan!"

"Over here!" Nanoha called, waving at her mother. She rose, brushing dirt and grass off her skirt.

"Sorry I'm late." Breathlessly, Momoko undid her scarf a bit to breathe easier. "I swear, Klarer Wind gets more and more popular every time I go by there. I'm beginning to think Shamal will need more employees."

Nanoha laughed. "Where's Onee-chan?"

"On her way. She had to help Tiida-san pick his sister up from school. Car trouble."

"Are they coming?" Nanoha asked, mildly alarmed. It was hard enough to spend the day with her family (not that she resented that), but to have strangers around?

Momoko shook her head, already guessing what Nanoha was thinking—and understanding it all too well. "She isn't bringing him along. She's just helping him out. Apparently his sister and his parents don't get along, so he spends a lot of time watching over her."

"Great," Nanoha moped, kicking at a clump of dirt with her dress shoes. "He's a family guy too."

Momoko laughed, not even trying to hide her amusement. "So you found out?"

"I can't believe Onee-chan never told me," Nanoha grumbled.

"She knew you'd find out on your own anyways."

"But I could have done a background check on him first! Now she's all biased and unwilling to listen to reason," Nanoha said sullenly.

"I thought that Fate approved of him?" Momoko chuckled.

Nanoha scowled. For a long moment, they were silent, before she spoke again. "Is Onee-chan thinking of bringing him here?"

"Not this soon." Momoko chuckled softly. "After all, you've been with Fate three years and still haven't brought her here yet."

"Where are we going to lunch?" Nanoha asked, not even trying to sound casual as she changed the topic.

"Miyuki is bringing a picnic lunch," Momoko smiled sadly, watching her daughter with knowing eyes that made Nanoha look away.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Nanoha chuckled. "Did she make it herself?"

"Most of it. I helped."

"Ah. Well..." The brunette cleared her throat. "I'll go... keep an eye out for Onee-chan, okay?"

Momoko barely had time to nod before Nanoha left her alone, heading back to the gates. After a moment, she turned back to the two markers and smiled slightly.

"Hello Shiro, Kyouya. It's been a long time since I've visited, hasn't it?"

**O**

Nanoha leaned her head against the iron gate, sighing at the cold touch of the metal bars against her skin. She didn't think about her brother and father that often during her ordinary days, but yet she still always thought about them. Part of her wished that she thought about them _more_.

She wished that she had spent more time with them. But at thirteen, she had been so fascinated with a teenager's life that she had never believed that one day her comfortable, solid family life wouldn't stay that way forever.

And on top of that, they'd just seemed so invincible. Shiro and Kyouya had both been there for as long as she could remember; she'd never even thought a day would come when they _wouldn't_ be there. Even when Kyouya's relationship with Shinobu had become more serious and he had moved out, he still visited his family on a regular basis.

Nanoha chuckled softly to herself. "You know, now that I think about it, Otou-san had promised to teach me how to use his gun..."

Elise had taught her instead, but Nanoha remembered crying herself to sleep that night when she first held and fired her father's gun without her father being there.

A car pulled into the parking lot nearby, prompting Nanoha to jog over and jump on the car hood playfully, careful to prevent denting it. "Onee-chan!" She laughed when her startled sister nearly crashed into another car, and gave her a glare and a rude hand signal. Rolling off the hood, Nanoha opened the door. "Jumpy?"

"I don't know where you learned your strange greeting habits," Miyuki sighed, stepping out of the door. "I don't remember any of us teaching them to you."

Nanoha grinned and closed the door. "I have a wide and varied group of friends, Onee-chan."

"Don't blame them for that." The black-haired woman chuckled, though. "Where's Mom?"

"Already there. I figured she needed some alone time."

"Okay." Miyuki popped the trunk and hauled out a basket and cooler, dumping both of them unsympathetically into Nanoha's arms. "You're the pack-mule today."

"Aw," Nanoha pouted.

"Go find a nice spot and set up," Miyuki rolled her eyes, flicking Nanoha's pony-tail. "I'll get Mom."

Sobering, Nanoha nodded simply and watched her sister walk off. She moved towards the park on the other side of the parking lot, not bothering with the gate on the other side of the lot. A quick toss of the basket and cooler over the chain-link, Nanoha made a running jump and flip over the fence, grinning. It was kind of ironic that her childhood skills, learnt to _avoid _the cops when she had been sneaking out at night, were now being used to _catch _the miscreants.

"Nanoha! I saw that!"

Nanoha pouted. "You take the fun out of everything," she muttered, wondering how Miyuki had even managed to see her jump over the fence anyway; then again, the older woman had always had extremely sharp eyes despite her glasses.

Shaking it off, the brunette headed for the shade of a tree, setting down the basket lightly and flipping it open.

As owners of a pastry-shop, the Takamachis had all unanimously agreed that any leisurely outing they go on would not contain any cakes, cookies or pies of any kind. There were only so many sweets that you could eat in your lifetime, Nanoha thought, although she brightened as she pulled out a tin of chocolate truffles among the sandwiches and salads.

Then her mood dropped as she pulled out only three sets of dishes.

_Bzzt. _Nearly dropping the plates (which would have been bad since there weren't any extras), Nanoha fished out her phone.

**New message from Fate: **_***hug***_

"Aw, Fate-chan," Nanoha murmured, a small smile on her face. She didn't answer it, but she continued unpacking the basket in a slightly more cheerful mood.

"Someone's in a better mood," Momoko murmured, making Nanoha blink in surprise; she'd been so caught up in her mood and in what she was doing that her mother and sister had practically snuck up on her.

"Must have gotten a message from her girlfriend." At Nanoha's glare, Miyuki blinked innocently.

"Fate-chan's—"

"—_not my girlfriend_," Miyuki finished for her, grinning wickedly. "We know."

"Mom, Onee-chan's picking on me!" Nanoha complained, a smirk on her lips.

Momoko chuckled and shook her head. "Save me from immature adults and their ways," she murmured. "How old are you two, again?"

"Old enough to deny obvious sexual tension." Miyuki flicked Nanoha lightly on the nose, making the brunette scowl.

"I bet _you're _not denying your sexual tension," Nanoha countered, making a face at the squicky image she got immediately after speaking. "Never mind, don't answer that."

Miyuki smirked wickedly. "Well, if you _really_ want to know..."

_"I said don't answer that!"_

Momoko responded by shoving sandwiches in both of her childrens' mouths, saying sternly, "Chew. And behave."

Nanoha grimaced and took her sandwich out of her mouth. "She started it," she grumbled.

"Yes, and if he were here, Kyouya would have been the one to start it. Now be quiet and eat, both of you."

Miyuki and Nanoha both nodded sheepishly.

It was a few minutes later that Nanoha ventured to ask, "So what are we doing this year?" They always did something random together for the rest of the day, and never repeated themselves. Nanoha could recall learning how to blow glass balls, zip-lining down Fuji mountain and nightclub crawling with her mother and sister. That last one was the weirdest experience of her life.

"We could try creating an abridged series," Miyuki offered. "I heard there's a new magical girl series out with lesbian vibes and child soldiers that people like to debate about."

"Strike Witches?" Nanoha asked, frowning a little. "Isn't that a little lolicon for you, Onee-chan?"

"I wasn't talking about—"

"Maybe we should think of something else," Momoko interjected then. "Besides, Fiasse and Elise are joining us later, don't forget."

Miyuki frowned. "Well, it's been awhile since I tried my hand at bodyguard work. I could partner up with Elise and drag Nanoha along for the ride."

"Um... don't I get a say in this?"

"So Fiasse and I get to decide what we want to do, and have you three protecting us while we do it?" Momoko asked, amused. "We could try cliff-diving, or street-racing maybe with some gangsters…"

"How about go-carting?" Nanoha suggested, grinning. "I haven't had a chance to drive a car around above the speed limit for a long time…"

"No go-carting," Miyuki said quickly. "You might end up crashing, with how you drive."

"Hey!"

"We could go learn how to make takoyaki?" Momoko sighed happily, imagining vividly. "That would be something interesting to be able to serve guests at home…"

"I think learning how to serve fugu would be more interesting," Miyuki chortled.

"It takes a three-year apprenticeship to learn how, Onee-chan." Brightening, Nanoha said, "How about sky-diving?"

"Of course you'd suggest something like that," Miyuki muttered, but she was smiling.

Nanoha grinned at her sister. "Is that a yes from you?"

Laughing at the antics of her daughters, Momoko shrugged. "You know I'm pretty much up to anything."

Cackling, Nanoha pulled out her phone. "I'll text Elise and Fiasse to let them know."

"Don't you need to find the address of a place?"

"Here," Nanoha pointed at an address saved on her phone.

"…Wait, you already have it saved to your phone?" Miyuki raised an eyebrow.

Nanoha shrugged, typing the message with quick flicks of her thumbs. "I was going to make Fate-chan take me for my birthday, but this is better. Less pleading."

Miyuki looked sorely tempted to say something at that point, but a warning look from Momoko made her sigh and settle down, grumbling. "I don't know what's more terrifying," she said instead, "the fact that you have the name of the place already, or the fact that you were going to drag poor, innocent Fate-chan along for the ride."

Nanoha smirked and grabbed the last tuna sandwich. "I'm broadening her horizons!"

Miyuki raised a brow, amused. "Is that what they call it these days?" she asked mildly. "I'm so far behind in my old age, it seems."

Momoko groaned.

Nanoha gave her a look, wondering if her tail was being pulled or if Miyuki was just generally teasing. Luckily, her phone buzzing with a text message spared her from answering. "Oh, Elise and Fiasse are heading there now. Shall we?"

"We shall," Momoko decided, standing up and brushing off her knees. "And can you two at least _try_ to behave along the way?" she asked mildly, aiming a telling look at her daughters that said so much more than words possibly could.

"Sure," Nanoha said, her throat suddenly choked. She and Miyuki never used to bicker much. Both of them tended to dispute with Kyouya, and they would even gang-up on him together. But after…she and her sister fell into the habit to make up for the silence and continued it ever since.

If the memory had hit her sister too, Miyuki didn't show it on her face.

They packed up briskly and piled into Miyuki's car, Momoko sitting shotgun while Nanoha lounged in the backseat by herself. "Onee-chan, how can you still have a new car smell after owning it for two years?"

"I keep it in good condition." Miyuki chuckled. "I can teach you how to do it when you get your license back and start driving again. Your car must stink by now from disuse."

"Not completely," Nanoha muttered. "Signum's stolen it a couple times." She grinned. "Although I don't think she's realized yet that I have her smoke grenades."

"Poor Fate," Miyuki teased. "If I were her, I'd be afraid of my bed exploding out from beneath me."

"I store my explosives under _my _bed, not hers," A confused Nanoha pointed out, then blushed as she realized the hole she had just walked into. Sure enough, Miyuki obliged, snickering.

"That's my point!"

Momoko sighed and this time, didn't even bother commenting when they started bickering again.

**O**

Nanoha fairly bounced as she checked her parachute straps. She wanted to tease Elise for looking mildly uneasy with the idea of jumping voluntarily out of an airplane, but Miyuki was already ribbing her, and Nanoha knew the look her mother had when she was about to crack down on a teaser. Instead, Nanoha pressed her face to the plane window, looking down at her city with delight.

"Hey, I think I can see our precinct!" Nanoha craned her head. "And I think that's our house!"

The diving trainer clapped his hands. "Alright, you ladies ready?" He chuckled. "Usually we do a bit more training than this, but I, er, don't think that you'll have many difficulties…you're used to jumping from odd places, I take it?"

"Why did I agree to this, again?" Elise practically whimpered; the poor blonde looked ready to cling tightly to the side of the plane and not let go, even if her life depended on it.

"Because I have a good way of convincing you." Miyuki laughed. "Oh, come on, Elise. You won't die."

"That's _extremely_ comforting coming from you, Takamachi!"

Ignoring the bickering, Nanoha asked her mother in amazement, "Mom! When did you have experience jumping from heights?"

Momoko replied idly, "Oh, trust me, when you've jumped from a ten-story building with nothing but large garbage bags as parachutes, this kind of thing is easy." At the sudden silence and stares her way, Momoko chuckled. "Your father and I had quite the adventures in our day—but those are stories for another time."

Their trainer cranked the hatch, opening the plane door. The wind roared through the body of the plane, and Nanoha eagerly moved forward so that she was first.

"WHOO HOO!" She yelled as she jumped out of the plane, cackling with delight as she fell into open air.

"... She's insane," Elise whispered.

"This is news to you?" Miyuki asked idly. "_You're_ the one who trained her, Elise."

"... Point taken."

Falling through the sky was amazing, Nanoha revelled. Something woke inside her, a sensation that flooded through her entire being. It was one of those perfect moments where everything seemed just right, like when she's firing a gun and knows in her stance, her grip and the placement of every muscle in her body that she's got it exactly right.

But it couldn't last. Nothing this good lasts.

Nanoha pulled her cord.

"That was amazingly quick, Nanoha," Miyuki teased, laughing when the brunette glanced at her as they glided down together. "I expected you to hold out longer!"

"I'm not _that_ stupid, Onee-chan."

"The first words of sanity I've heard from you yet!"

A short distance away, Momoko sighed again. Honestly, those two never gave up...

**O**

As thanks for the sky-diving trip, Fiasse treated them all out to dinner at a seafood restaurant. They nearly changed locations when Elise turned green at the sight of the rich food (she had been pale ever since the plane), but the stoic bodyguard insisted that they stay, and even forced down a lobster dish just to prove that she could handle it. Even Miyuki was considerate enough not to tease her and make her more self-conscious, since she only turned greener afterwards.

"So how has your music been, Fiasse?" Momoko inquired, changing the topic to allow poor Elise to recover.

"I have a concert coming up shortly, actually," Fiasse confessed, taking a sip from her drink. "Since Miyuki agreed to be my bodyguard this time around..."

"Yes, yes."

"I think you doubt my skills sometimes," Elise muttered, shooting Fiasse a narrow-eyed look. "Sometimes I wonder how we've stayed friends so long."

Fiasse just smiled sweetly.

"Oh, so it's you!" exclaimed Nanoha. She elaborated, "Chief Graham mentioned that some of us have crowd control duty for the singers who're performing at the next concert in the Asura Stadium. I didn't know that you're part of it too!"

"Yes." Fiasse chuckled. "The Chief was kind enough to offer to help me out when he heard I was going to be in the area for the concert. He spoke quite highly of all of you, so..." She lifted her glass slightly in a salute. "Take good care of me and the other singers?"

"We will," Nanoha declared proudly, putting her fists on her hips. "Hayate-chan a real fan of yours too, it'll be funny to see her face when she realizes that you'll be there!"

"I sense you'll be hit up for an autograph," Miyuki predicted.

Nanoha whacked her lightly on the shoulder. "Besides, it's been a long time since Onee-chan has done bodyguard work. I want to see if she still has her edge."

"Is that a challenge?" Miyuki's eyes gleamed.

Nanoha smirked. "What if it is?"

"Here we go," Momoko sighed. She knew how this was going to end; it was a predictable cycle.

Which was how Nanoha found herself barefoot and facing her sister in their dojo, an amused peanut gallery watching them from the sidelines.

"Why can't I use a gun?" Nanoha whined, but she didn't really mean it. A gun wasn't a very friendly weapon for sparring use, after all. She hefted her bokken and tried to arrange her muscles into the nearly forgotten kendo stance.

"As the challenged, I get to choose the weapons," Miyuki replied, more to tease than for serious explanation. "Besides, this is to defend my bodyguard skills—in a crowd, I've got a better range than any gun-toter!"

"Huh?" Fiasse muttered to Elise.

"Twenty-one feet: in that range, a blade-user wins over the gun-man," Elise whispered.

"I'd win even past that range!" Miyuki taunted playfully, and Nanoha attacked, dashing in while swinging her bokken around in a powerful arc.

Nanoha yelped, and managed to swing her bokken around to block Miyuki's, just barely; she stumbled back a few steps, tried to regain her footing, and yelped again as her sister went in for another attack, having no mercy for the younger woman.

"Do they do this often?" Fiasse murmured.

"On a regular basis," Momoko sighed. "Nanoha's still convinced she can beat Miyuki at this... sooner or later."

Elise chuckled. "Have to give her credit for determination and patience."

All three of them flinched as Nanoha yelped, taking a hit to the head.

"And hard-headedness," Fiasse added, wincing in sympathy. The Takamachis scorned the use of protective gear, so even pulling her strikes that hit from Miyuki had to hurt.

"Where she'd learn that from, I wonder?" Momoko wondered, ignoring the way Miyuki easily sidestepped Nanoha's attack and lightly whapped her sister over her back to send her tumbling.

"Wasn't Elise the one who taught her to shoot?" Fiasse commented innocently.

Elise sighed. "I thought that hard-headness was genetic?" She retorted.

Momoko laughed. "Shiro could break blocks with his forehead—maybe that's where she got it from?"

Out on the mat there was another yelp and a loud thud; Momoko glanced up to see Nanoha on the ground, panting, Miyuki holding the end of her bokken at her sister's throat.

Chuckling as she tried to catch her breath, Miyuki relaxed. "You _are_ improving," she said. "Your reaction time has gotten a lot better, and you lasted longer."

"I still didn't even make it to three minutes, Onee-chan."

"Well, you'll get there one day."

Nanoha sat up, grumbling. "You have nine-year old students who can last five minutes with you."

"Can't compare yourself with child prodigies, Nanoha," Miyuki said, patting Nanoha on the head. Nanoha yelped with pain, causing Miyuki to pull her hand back sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot."

"Let's go into the house and get you an ice-pack, Nanoha," Momoko said.

"You're talking like I'm nine again..."

Momoko smiled. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I'm twenty-three, Mom!" Nanoha complained, but she still meekly accepted Momoko's fussing to put the ice-pack on just right.

Momoko smiled, but her voice sounded a little absent as she said softly, "You'll always be my little kids."

**O**

Nanoha called out her goodnights and shut the door to her old room. She hadn't lived here for three years, so every time she stayed over at her mother's house she felt a jolt of nostalgia at the childish-struggling-to-teenagehood feel of her room. She sat down on the pink cover and pulled out her phone.

The glow of her iphone cast eerie blue light around her dark room as Nanoha scrolled through a hidden, password-protected file in her documents.

The files were old; Nanoha had had them for years, and even then she still made it a habit to scroll through them before she went out for the day and before she went to sleep, if only to keep the facts straight in her mind.

The file itself was of Takamachi Shiro and his son, Kyouya. More specifically, the file was of how they had died, and the case that had killed them.

Nanoha had never told anyone she still had the information saved. She didn't want to cause anymore pain for Momoko and Miyuki, and as much as she loved her friends, this was something she was determined to keep to herself.

After all, the cops had caught the guy. It was a closed file, case solved. No more tax-payers dollars spent on that case, even if it was a cop-killing.

Nanoha understood. But even so, she couldn't help feeling that there was something not right still—something that she had to find and fix. Even though she hadn't found anything so far, Nanoha just couldn't let it go.

"Hard-headed," she muttered to herself, staring at the photos of her father and brother. She didn't ever want to forget what they looked like. Some days, she scared herself because she did.

_Bzzt. _

**New message from Fate: **_**Hey, hope your day went alright. You okay?**_

Nanoha didn't hesitate. She punched in a quick reply and sent it out: **Yeah, I'm fine ^^. Thanks for asking! Good night =).**

She knew it was a lie; and if she stopped to think about it, she might even feel a little guilty about it.

But this was a family matter.

Nanoha set her phone on her desk and took a breath, gazing at the family photo in a decorated frame on her shelf. It was the last family photo they took together.

Miyuki was hugging a squirming, giggling Nanoha from behind, arms around her neck, a teasing smirk on her face; Kyouya's face had been caught mid-laugh as he rested his hand on Miyuki's shoulder, trying to get her to let go of Nanoha. Shiro and Momoko stood behind their children, his arm around her shoulder, hers around his waist, amusement and love in their eyes.

Misato had taken the picture during a family reunion. None of them had been paying attention.

And if anything, for the teasing girl her sister had been, for the love and security her mother had lost...

Nanoha knew that she had to understand why she still felt that the case was unresolved.

END LOG 1-7-20XX

* * *

_**Author's Note: It's been a while since there was an update, my apologies…**_

_**A bit of crack and a bit of tears, with a dash of fourth wall irony and a slew of new subplots in this chapter =P, but what else did you expect from RB and myself? ^_^**_

_**Misato, Elise and Fiasse are from Triangle Hearts =). I tried to research most of the facts mentioned in these Logs, but if I have the wrong info I plead that it's the fault of the Internet Search Engines! =D**_

_**Man, we'll probably have to compile a list of all the references one day to prevent ourselves from getting mixed up! Enjoy all the shout-outs! ^^**_

_**Sadly, this fic is currently like a favourite oldest child who just has to stand aside for a moment while the younger siblings get taken care of…I've got so many projects running at the same time, as well as a crazily busy year at the moment, that I just haven't had the time to co-write with RadiantBeam lately. Please don't get mad at her, the heel-dragging is on my end! I'd hate for this fic to fall into Dead Fic territory, so hopefully Real Life will give me a break soon ^^;;. **_


	8. Jan 8, Mr Bojangles

Log #14

**UCPD Log:** Jan-8-20XX

**Officers:**_F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi & H. Yagami and Y. Scrya_

_Mr. Bojangles_

"Nanoha…" Fate said lowly.

"Yes?" That infuriating woman responded innocently.

"I swear," Fate growled, tapping her fingers darkly on the steering wheel, "If you don't stop doing that, I'm going to _make _you."

"Doing what, Fate-chan?" The complete and utter picture of innocence, Nanoha smiled sweetly, lighting up when her cell phone chirped. "Signum-san! I have to tell you, I saw the most _amazing_ equipment on my last case with Fate-chan. I think it's locked up—"

_"Stop squealing over weapons, dammit!"_

"Well," pouted Nanoha, "what else am I supposed to do? It's _boring!_ We haven't had any calls today, we're just looping around the neighbourhood—and there's only so many times we can drive by the station without me thinking of it…" Her eyes glazed over, a dazed smile on her face. "…a real Minigun…with Gatling-style rotating barrels…_5 000 rounds per minute…_"

"What are you going to do, mount it on our cruiser?" Fate said sarcastically, then winced as Nanoha turned that dazzled expression on her.

"Can we really?"

"No."

"Aw, Fate-chaaaaaaaan..."

"Pretending that it's even possible—_which it isn't!_—we don't even have a sunroof for you to shoot it out of. So _no_."

The brunette whined pleadingly, like a dog requesting a treat even as they knew they couldn't have one. "I could have Onee-chan install it!"

"... Since _when_ could Miyuki do something like that?"

"Well, I could always teach her..."

_"NO!"_

Groaning, Fate rubbed her temples and prayed for a miracle. Usually she could deal with Nanoha much better than this when the woman got a little frisky, but the simple fact was, they hadn't gotten a call all day; they were both bored out of their skulls.

"Hmpf," Nanoha sulked, slouching in her seat and kicked her boots up onto the dashboard, making a vein pop out in Fate's forehead. "I should have partnered up with Yuuno-kun instead. _He _wouldn't be so cruel to me! Or maybe with Signum-san—I bet you she'd already have a Minigun mounted on _her _squad car if we were together."

"Which is probably why Chief Grahem _didn't _pair you two up. He wants the city still in one piece by the end of the day."

"We'd only chase people who deserve chasing!"

Fate didn't even get the chance to reply; she snatched up the radio, clicking the frequency. "Yeah, Testarossa here." _Please, please, save me from trigger happy partners who are bored out of their skulls._

On the other end of the line, Hayate coughed. "Fate-chan, Nanoha-chan... you aren't going to believe this."

"I don't care if it's on the force's cracklist of calls, we're up for it."

"Well…" Hayate dragged out, a hitch in her voice that either hid indignation or hilarious laughter. Knowing her friend, Fate would put her money on the latter. "It _is_ from the crack pile, but Shari's whining that she's gotten 20 calls from this lady in the past hour, so she asked me and Yuuno-kun to take care of it…but Yuuno's not too happy about the subject matter, so will you two deal with it?"

Nanoha snatched the radio from Fate. "_Yuuno-kun_ is refusing a call? Oh man, what is it, another pole dancer who lost her tips 'somewhere' and wanted Yuuno-kun to 'look for them'?"

Hayate couldn't hold back her laughter anymore, and they heard indistinct sounds of Yuuno sputtering and protesting before Hayate managed to get enough breath back to say, "You'll see when you get there! 118 Fleming Street."

"Finally something to do!" Nanoha crowed, bouncing in her seat and snapping a new magazine into her handgun. "Hit the gas, Fate-chan!"

And despite the fact that it was grossly inappropriate and overkill for the current situation, Fate had to admit that she gunned the engine shamelessly, leaving a smoke trail behind.

**O**

"They took the call?"

Hayate grimaced and switched off the radio. "Yep. I'm kind of surprised they didn't ask for details, but I guess Nanoha-chan was really bored and driving Fate-chan crazy."

Yuuno cringed. "... Should we call them back and warn them?"

"Nah. It'll be hilarious to see their faces when they come back to headquarters to report it." Hayate grinned and grabbed Yuuno's hand, yanking him into a jog. "We'd better get out of here ASAP—or else Nanoha-chan might go White Devil on us when she finds out!"

**O**

It was pretty obvious who had made the call, as the moment Fate pulled the squad car up into the neighbourhood street a door from one of the little dingy houses slammed open, cracking the screen door into the wall with a bang.

"Finally!" An old lady tottered out of the house, moving briskly with her walker down to where Fate had parked the car by the curb. "You two young ladies are here to help? That nice lady at the station told me that they finally managed to find some perfectly qualified officers to lend this old woman a hand!"

Fate blinked, then asked warily, "What do you mean, _perfectly qualified?_"

The old lady huffed and shifted her weight on her cane; from the look in her eyes, Fate suddenly feared she would be on the receiving end of a lecture. "Well, you see, there were two perfectly fit, well-adjusted young officers right on the corner of my street. But for some reason the young miss insisted that her lad wasn't good around cats."

"... Cats?" Fate blinked. Was the woman talking about Yuuno? It was no secret the man was deathly allergic to any and all felines.

"Are you deaf?" The old woman raised an eyebrow, giving her an exasperated look. "Yes, cats. My cat, specifically."

Fate just stared at the lady, trying to keep up with the odd conversation. Thankfully, Nanoha jumped in at that moment.

"Er, ma'am, do you need help finding your cat?"

"Finding? No, no, he's not lost." When the old lady began to hobble over to the tall oak tree in the middle of her lawn, Fate felt her heart sinking.

"Oh…no…"

Perched up on one of the higher branches of the tree, the orange tabby licked his paw nonchalantly, his tailed wrapped tightly around his haunches. With a soft huff, he gazed down at Fate with bored yellow eyes, as if wordlessly daring her to even _try_ following him up onto his perch.

Fate glared back up at the tomcat. If he had looked scared, her heart would have melted, but that kind of arrogant gaze? Oooh, she was tempted to just leave him up there.

A throat cleared behind her. "Well? Aren't you two lasses going to do something?"

"How'd he get up so high?"

The old woman shrugged. "He's always enjoyed a good climb now and again. Keeps his body fit and young. But this morning he went all the way up there and he hasn't come down yet."

"... Young?" How old _was_ that cat?

"I've had him since I was, oh," the woman dithered, patting at her flowery dress, "a much younger woman."

Fate made a choked sound, hastily trying to school her expression.

"Oh, he must be a very young cat then!" Nanoha said gallantly, blinking her charming wide blue eyes at the old woman.

Before the old lady could respond, or Fate could regain her composure, Nanoha glanced up the tree, noting how tall it was and how sturdy the tree bark was. "So, the boy climbed up there, huh?"

"Yes, it's his morning habit. Usually he's down by now, and—oh, my."

Fate's jaw dropped as, with seemingly no effort, Nanoha gripped one of the tree's lower branches and hauled herself up, starting to climb the tree trunk as if it were nothing but a simple ladder.

"My, my," the old lady said admiringly, giving Fate a rather disdainful look, "your nice partner is pretty spry, isn't she? A very good girl."

"Yes," Fate said dryly, keeping an eye on Nanoha who was scaling up the tree with no problems so far, "She's spry like a monkey. The stupid kind that doesn't worry about common concepts like _gravity _and _common sense!_"

The woman tut-tutted, shaking her head. "What a thing to say about a pretty girl like that!" She turned back to look at Nanoha as well, a thoughtful expression on her lined face. Then, a canny glint shone in the old woman's eyes.

...

_Please, tell me she isn't looking up Nanoha's skirt._ Never mind the fact that the brunette currently wasn't wearing a skirt; Fate's thoughts weren't exactly coherent at the moment.

"Aren't you nearly done?" Fate shouted up at Nanoha, shifting irritatedly on the spot. The sooner she had Nanoha back down on the ground and _not _flashing her very fine, well-toned butt at them, the better…

…of course, Fate _wasn't _gawping. She was just spotting for Nanoha, in case she fell. Yeah. All business here.

"Almost?" Nanoha panted, inching her way up a rapidly narrowing branch. She was only a few feet away from the smugly meowing cat, his chin on his front paws as his black-tipped tail swung languidly back and forth beneath his perch.

Grimacing, the woman shifted and tried to get a better grip on her branch, mentally chanting to not look down. "Hey there, pretty boy," she crooned.

The cat purred softly at this; she could have sworn a single eye cracked open to survey her before the tom went back to pretending she didn't exist. Still, she knew she'd started off well with the animal.

"Nanoha…" Fate's voice warned from below her, and while Nanoha didn't dare to glance down she could hear the worried concern in that single word.

"Careful, dear," the old woman called up too. "Mr. Bojangles, you'd better behave for the nice lady!"

"Mr. Bojangles?" she heard Fate say incredulously. Clearly, something had happened down there while Nanoha had been scaling the tree—she couldn't imagine what could have made her sweet—if sometimes grouchy and straight-laced—Fate-chan be so annoyed with anyone, especially an elder.

"It's all right," Nanoha called back down, giving a small wave for Fate's benefit. "Cats like me." Ignoring her partner's soft snort of disbelief, the brunette hefted herself up and crept closer to the cat.

He _mrrred_ softly, opening his eyes to fix a calm, if slightly amused, gaze on her.

"Yeah, I know. I think I'd want to get away from my owner too every now and again if she was like that." Nanoha held out her hand. "But you've caused a lot of trouble, pretty boy."

He eyed her a little suspiciously, his whiskers twitching in front of his narrowed golden gaze. His tail swished a little faster.

"Aw, don't be like that," implored Nanoha, moving forward another fraction and feeling the branch sway a tad alarmingly. "I like cats, especially good boys like you. Right?"

The tom's whiskers came forward in a cat's grin as he purred.

"Yes, you're a handsome little gentleman, aren't you?" Nanoha cooed as she crept forward again, her fingers just inches away from Mr. Bojangles' fuzzy paws.

Then she felt a tremor go through the branch they were both perched on, a vibration that echoed through Nanoha's tense muscles.

_Crap._

**O**

Fate heard the snap before she even saw the branch plunge through the shadows of the tree and hit the grass with a dull thud, loose leaves still drifting in the air. She knew, instantly, what it meant. "Nanoha!"

"I'm all right!" The brunette's voice drifted down from the tree, sounding oddly muffled for some reason. "I managed to grab on to another branch. Give me a minute, I'll be right down."

Regardless of the fact that it was probably an unsafe idea, Fate hurried over towards the tree trunk, craning her head back and looking up.

Being Nanoha's partner for three years had brought Fate face-to-face with some pretty weird stuff. Most of which Fate wished that she could scrub from her brain, just for the mortification factor involved—usually Fate's mortification. So for once, it was nice to see someone else be at the receiving end of the horror. And this was one of the _weirdest _sights Fate had ever seen.

There was Nanoha, clinging upside-down to a branch, her arms and legs wrapped around the tree like her life depended on it (which it probably did). And wrapped around her face, all four limbs splayed out and yowling in protest, was Mr. Bojangles, attached to Nanoha's face like a furry face-hugger.

"It's not as painful as it looks," Nanoha managed, her voice muffled by the mass of fur still clinging to her face. "He's actually holding on pretty gently."

The old lady puffed with pride. "Mr. Bojangles would never hurt a soul."

Fate facepalmed, feeling her lingering headache turn into a full blown one. "Nanoha, just…get down here please." _No one _was going to hear about this. Especially Signum. But damn, Hayate knows about it and she'll definitely tell her…

"Ooof!" Nanoha had dropped down to another branch, narrowly catching herself before she completely slid off, the tomcat's tail waving back and forth under her chin. She climbed down again, landing and yelping as she tipped and turned upside-down again, barely looping her legs around the branch to prevent a very long head-first fall but also flashing her audience below a look up the half-unbuttoned collarline of her uniform shirt.

Even as Fate felt herself flushing red, she realized that Nanoha's fall had yanked Mr. Bojangles free of his tentative grip on Nanoha's face. And that blasted cat was now—

Latching onto her shoulder as if his life depended on it. Thankfully, his claws either weren't as sharp as she'd thought, or her jacket was much thicker than she assumed it had been, but either way, she felt no pain from his grip. She blinked. "Um... hi kitty."

Mr. Bojangles, still scared out of his wits, simply lashed his tail.

"Aw, Fate-chan, I think he likes you! He hasn't even tried to scratch you!"

"Don't jinx it, Nanoha."

Indeed, Fate was used to being hated by cats. Maybe this guy had grown out of the "cats all hate Fate Testarossa" part of kittenhood in his old age? Still, she decided to pass on trying to pat him, as much as she wanted to since, she had to admit, he _was _kind of cute. In a kind of dignified, lordly gentleman cat way.

Nanoha finally finished climbing down, sliding down the trunk and landing safely back on the ground. Fate barely noticed the old lady making a fuss over the "brave, kind officer" who had rescued her cat and patting the dust out of Nanoha's clothes because…

…Mr. Bojangles had climbed up to drape his belly over Fate's shoulder. And he was purring.

"Well," Nanoha murmured, amused when the cat shifted to rub his cheek against Fate's hair, "I'm going to guess he isn't one of Suzuka-chan's former kittens."

The old lady blinked. "Huh?"

"Nothing, ma'am."

They all stood there for a few moments, the only sound being the gentle rumble coming from Mr. Bojangles' chest as he curled into a fluffy ball on Fate's shoulder.

"Um, Fate-chan?"

"What?"

"Uh…I think this nice lady would like her cat back now?"

Fate swallowed, feeling her marshmallow heart melting. "Tell that to _him_, not me."

"Now there, mister, you've caused enough trouble today." The old woman pulled Mr. Bojangles off of Fate's shoulder. Fate acutely felt the coldness as the cat was lifted off, and she watched him go, biting her lip. He looked at her, his whiskers still forward in a smile and he _mrrred _softly at her. Quickly, Fate's hand darted out and she patted the tomcat on the head once.

"There you go—safe and sound again. Goodbye now." She left Nanoha to accept the old lady's thanks as she trudged back to their patrol car, standing by the driver's door and rolling a pebble back and forth on the ground with one shoe.

"Ooof!" Fate lurched as warm arms suddenly glomped her from behind.

"You're attached." Nanoha sounded amused as she nuzzled Fate's neck, seeming to enjoy the whole thing.

Fate shrugged awkwardly. "He's a good cat."

"You're still attached."

"So what if I am?"

Nanoha giggled, squeezing Fate tightly like a teddy bear. "It's cute." She kissed Fate on the cheek and skipped away before Fate could react, opening the passenger seat door. She grinned over the car at Fate, winking. "It's why I like you so much."

...

_You know, Nanoha, I'm beginning to notice you have some catlike traits yourself._

Nanoha watched Fate get into the car and start the engine, the cutest blush still on Fate's cheeks as she tried to appear impassive.

"What are you so happy about?" Fate grumbled as they pulled out onto the road. "You know that we're never going to hear the end of this from everyone, especially after Hayate opens her big mouth."

Smiling tranquilly, Nanoha just shrugged, leaning back in her seat and propping her feet up on the dashboard again. She didn't care about any amount of teasing. All she thought of was how, for once, Fate _hadn't_ rejected Nanoha's declaration outright. Fate probably had been too embarrassed and distracted by her soft-hearted attachment to the cat to notice.

_It's one of the reasons why I like you so much, Fate-chan._

END LOG 1-8-20XX

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: **_**For those who might be wondering about the odd name for the cat, this is in dedication to a poor stray cat adopted by a high school. The entire student population is trying to raise enough money to cover the cat's vet bills in order to save his life (a bill in the thousands of dollars). So when RB suggested this idea for our next Log, I just had to make an homage to Mr. Bojangles. **_

_**Thanks to all the folks who enjoy the Logs!**_


	9. Jan 9, Deadline

Log #15

**Uminari City Police: Daily Activity Logs**

**UCPD Log:** Jan-9-20XX

**Officers:**_ F. Testarossa and N. Takamachi, H. Yagami and Y. Scrya & S. Yagami_

_Deadline_

There were a few days in a year that Fate dreaded with every fibre of her heart.

Tax return day.

Alicia's anniversary.

Valentine's day.

Nanoha's birthday (because Fate would always inevitably allow herself to get talked into getting Nanoha a few more claymores and ammunition as a present).

And this terrible, dreadful, _bad luck_ day…Weapons Permit Renewal Deadline day.

"Why," Fate moaned as she fought the urge to snap her pen in half as yet _another _one ran out of ink on her, "is it that Carim and Schach never draw the short straws for paperwork duty on permit renewal day?"

"Because the universe hates you," Signum supplied from her desk, absently sipping from her cup of morning coffee.

Fate glared. "I don't want to hear that from you when you're just as bad as Nanoha and you _know_it."

The pink-haired woman simply smiled innocently.

"I should make Nanoha do this," the blonde grumbled, fishing around for a new pen and murmuring a soft word of thanks when Signum took pity on her and passed her one. "She's the one who got all of these."

"Aren't _you _the one who bought her most of them?" Yuuno asked innocently from the next cubicle.

"You!" Fate growled, giving him a dirty glare over the edge of the gray divider. "How could you let this happen? Aren't you supposed to be the one sane man around here?" The mild irritation was let out of her glare when Shari put a slice of apple pie down beside Fate's stack of papers, the aide giving Yuuno a wink as Fate was distracted.

"Why _don't _you make Nanoha do them herself?" Signum asked, an eyebrow raised. As deceptive as her apathetic look appeared, all of them knew the sergeant well enough to recognize the smug amusement she was truly feeling about the situation.

"Yes indeed," Shari giggled, jumping on the bandwagon. "Why _are _you doing so much work for Nanoha, Fate?"

Fate sighed, checked the ink in her new pen, and got back to work. "You know the answer to that as well as I do, Shari," she muttered, not even giving the brown-haired woman a look. It was no secret in the force that Nanoha was good at doing paperwork, but didn't have the interest in actually doing it.

Yuuno, Shari and Signum all exchanged looks. There was only one reply to something like that, but only Hayate Yagami could possibly have delivered the line as it deserved to be delivered.

When the reply came, it startled all of them.

"Because you're a sap?" Signum intoned quite seriously.

"Yuuno is a sap too," Fate shot back without missing a beat. "Every year he does Hayate's paperwork, even if she draws the short straw."

"How can I help it if Yuuno is a gentleman?" Hayate blinked innocently, leaning against Fate's desk with a smile.

"Holy—!" Fate yelped, jumping in her seat. "Where did you come from?"

"Coffee run for all you poor hard-working officers?" Hayate crooned, grinning wickedly. She set down the coffee cups from the tray she was holding.

"And just where is my worthless partner then?" Fate groused.

Yuuno scratched his cheek. "Actually, I heard she had a bit of a cold, so her mother came over and made her sleep in."

...

Fate blinked. "Really?" Nanoha _never_ got sick, and it was rare for the chief to make an exception for something as simple as a cold.

"I know, we reacted that way too," Yuuno said.

"That is, after we realized that it wasn't an excuse," Hayate added slyly, "since _you _showed up for work today after all, Fate-chan!"

"Why would—" Fate suddenly flushed. _Oh._

Signum looked up from her writing, deadpanning, "Walked right into that one."

"Yup," Shari pitched in helpfully.

Fate groaned and knew she couldn't even deny it—and in addition, it was no secret that when Nanoha was sick, or generally not feeling well, the blonde was right by her side. "Any idea how she's feeling, at least?" she muttered.

Signum shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"You could always check on her after your shift," Yuuno suggested helpfully.

"Hm." Fate went back to filling out the stack of papers.

_Licensed owner: Nanoha Takamachi. Weapon Registration code: …I wonder how Nanoha is feeling?_

Fate snuck a look at the clock—hm, still another hour before she could legitimately claim a lunch break… Urgh, why was she so concerned? Nanoha was a big girl, she can take care of herself! And besides, Momoko was probably there too, right?

But it was a working day…Momoko probably had to take care of the shop…so what if Nanoha was alone?

"Something wrong, Fate?" Shari asked, a smile twitching on her lips.

"Shut up, Shari," Fate grumbled.

The brown-haired woman snickered.

Fate glanced back down at her papers. Where was she? Weapon Registration code…she had the codes somewhere. Digging through her desk drawers, Fate riffled through the colour-coded files. Registration codes…

She should probably bring Nanoha lunch. The silly girl often forgot to eat when she was sick…

No, Fate had work to do! _Nanoha's _work! She had no time to be running all the way to her partner's apartment just to deliver her _lunch_! But, well…Fate could always just call Nanoha up to check…

Signum sighed, pitying the woman. "Fate, do you want me to tell the chief you're going on a short break so you can at least call her?"

"No, no!" Fate coughed fakely, burying her face back in the paperwork. "It's fine! No worries at all!" She promptly shut up—her arguments were starting to sound lame even to _Fate's _ears.

_Weapon Type: Rifle. Model: M16…More codes…Date Acquired…_

Great, finished another one! All that was needed was Nanoha's signature on ALL the forms, but Nanoha couldn't complain when _Fate _was the one to fill everything else out. Fate set the completed form to her right triumphantly. Then she saw the thick blank stack still on her left...

"ARGH, NANOHA!" Fate yelled.

"You know," Shari began innocently, "I would think you would be able to drag Nanoha out of bed for this kind of thing, Fate."

"What do you mean?" the blonde asked, suddenly wary of where the conversation was going.

The other woman's eyes gleamed. "Well, since you always leave her apartment in the morning..."

...

"How—"

"Jogging route."

"I'm always there to wake her up!" Fate protested, waving her hands. "You know she'll never wake up on her own! I was running late today, so I didn't go over…but that's _really _why!"

…How come whenever Fate defended herself with the truth, _none _of them believed her?

Maybe she needed to stop putting so much energy into her protests whenever she was being teased...

"Officers!" Grahem's door slammed open, and Gil poked his head out, looking just as frazzled as the rest of them. Through his open office door the stacks of files were balanced precariously across his desktop—all of them winced in sympathy. "I need someone to run down to the post office and pick up a package for me. Any volun—"

"ME!"

He rubbed his brows as everyone's hand shot up. "Sergeant! Get everyone to draw straws or something—but only _one _person!" The door slammed shut again.

"Now, now, Signum," Hayate perched on the edge of Signum's desk, her eyes glittering. "You gotta play fair…"

Signum sniffed as she reached into one of her desk drawers, rustling around before she pulled out the small can filled with straws. "I don't know what you're implying, Hayate. We all know you're the one who rigs it."

Fate didn't know if it was good or bad that the blue-eyed girl didn't even bother denying it.

"All right, everyone, you know the rules," Signum continued as she sat the can on her desk. "The one who draws the short straw gets to go. No drawing more than one straw at a time, and no..."

She smacked away Shari's hand as it inched closer, making the woman pout.

"... drawing before I say go. It's only fair."

"Anyone want to abstain from drawing?" Hayate asked, eyeing Yuuno with an expression that the blond man seemed to dread.

"Uh…"

"Hayate, stop trying to intimidate the competition."

"Would I do that, dear cousin?"

"Hey, no biasing the executor!"

"Um, girls," Yuuno said nervously.

"All right, all right." Ending the conversation by giving Hayate's ear a light twist, Signum put her hand over the straws, as did everyone else in the room. "On my count. One, two..."

"THREE!"

"Dammit, Hayate!"

"Heh heh heh…" Hayate held up her short straw, cackling as she leapt over the chairs, dramatically whipping her jacket over her shoulders. "SCORE!"

"I swear," Shari grumbled, pouting, "she still cheated somehow."

"Hear hear," agreed Fate, staring gloomily at her long straw.

Hayate grinned. "Don't worry, Fate. I'll give Nanoha a kiss for you."

"Do whatever you want! Why would I care?" Fate went back to scribbling, her pen digging into the paper. She heard a muffled "Ow!" as someone kicked Hayate in the shin.

"I was just kidding," Hayate whined.

"Go," Yuuno hissed.

As Hayate slunk out, all of them couldn't help but look longingly after her. Shari picked up her own armful of paperwork—records of the UCPD explosive devices…_all _of the explosive devices…of which there was a lot—and whimpered.

"Sergeant Signum…want to trade?"

"Hell no."

Fate sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

Suspiciously, Signum narrowed her eyes at Fate. "Why? Were you going to pawn off some work on me too?"

"Hey, isn't that what superior officers are for? You're a sergeant—shouldn't you be used to desk riding by now?"

"Fate," Yuuno said dryly, "remember who you're talking to? This is coming from the woman who owns more guns than Nanoha."

"Hey." Signum huffed, as if insulted. "Unlike Miss Butterfingers, I actually get my paperwork done _early_ so it's not a problem. Far less headaches that way."

"Where do you find the _time?_" Fate scowled as she fudged a registration code. She stole a white-out stick from Hayate's desk and scrubbed at the error. Under her breath, she grumbled, "I swear, next year I'm making Nanoha do these herself!"

"You know, if you did one every day, you'd be done in the year," Signum deadpanned. Then she smirked. "And do you know what's an even better idea?" She picked up one of the sheets and waved it. "You know that carbon copies are just for sticklers, right? Our licensor has been happy to accept photocopies for the last two years."

"You mean…" Fate gaped and stared down at her piles of hand-written, carbon copy forms, then looked over at Signum's bound textbook-sized stack of sheets.

"Just leave some date spots blank and your signature—the rest stays the same every year."

"…"

"…I would have thought that you were smart enough to notice that?"

"..."

"I think you broke Fate," Shari whispered.

"You…mean…" Fate stared at her papers. All those stacks, all the used up pens, all the minutes of cramped muscles in her writing hand… "YOU MEAN IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING?"

"Not nothing," Yuuno pointed out logically. "You kind of need an original copy first, right?"

Gnashing her teeth, Fate's forehead dropped onto her desk with a bang.

"Yup. You broke her."

"I didn't do it on purpose," Signum muttered.

"Doesn't matter. You still broke her."

"But I—"

"_Broke_ her."

"I'm okay," Fate said, her voice wavering in a slightly maniacal way. "It's alright—why wouldn't it be alright? I already filled out eighty-seven of those forms, what's another seventy-nine? Oh no, it wouldn't be any problem at all, ha ha ha…"

"I'm back!" Hayate called out cheerfully as she walked through the glass doors, holding a package up just as Fate screamed, "I'M SUPER ALRIGHT, JUST SEVENTY-NINE MORE TO GO!" and finished with a bout of mad laughter.

"…What the _hell _did you guys do while I was gone? And _why wasn't I here to film it?_"

"Signum broke Fate," Shari replied.

"I didn't!" Signum yelped.

"_Broke_ her."

"SEVENTY-EIGHT MORE TO GO!"

**O**

"Almost…" Fate droned, her eyes practically glowing red with anticipation. Her hand scrawled faster, ridges worn into her fingertips from clutching the pen. She could no longer feel the writing implement—it was as if the words just appeared on the page as her hand moved. "Acquisition license number…storage information…"

She was so close…so close…One last blank field to fill—

The front door opening didn't distract Fate from her goal, but the familiar voice calling out _did_.

Startled, she looked up, blinking groggily. "Hello?"

Standing near the door, Nanoha waved weakly. "Um, hi."

"Nanoha!" Fate jolted, starting to get out of her seat, then blushed and sat back down. "Uh," she tried again, trying to sound less worried, "Aren't you sick? Shouldn't you be at home resting?"

"I feel a lot better, actually." Smiling sheepishly, Nanoha rubbed the back of her neck. "Mom and Onee-chan came and looked after me, so I don't feel too bad now." She cleared her throat. "But what about you? It's dark outside, Fate-chan."

...

"It is?"

"Yeah," Nanoha nodded, walking over. Then she perked up and said, "But you wouldn't guess what I actually got done today! It was so boring, being at home, so I thought that I might as well do something useful."

Gleefully, Nanoha pulled out a heavy stack of papers as thick as an encyclopedia from under her arm and brandished it towards Fate.

"... Nanoha, is that..."

"Yep! All of the licenses and permits for my weapons. It took me all day, but I figured since I was already in bed anyway I had nothing better to do, and... Fate-chan, are you all right? You've gone pale."

END LOG 1-9-20XX

* * *

_**Author's Note: Any lack of realism in the renewal process of weapon permits shall be excused for the sake of humour! ^_^**_


End file.
